Nicki Minaj graces the cover of FADER’s ‘Fall Fashion’ issue.
In the mag, she talks about her career evolution, that infamous BET Awards acceptance speech, those who question her credibility & more.
Get into a few excerpts:
On how she’s evolved: “I think early on in my career, I was… just a little bit crazy. I took everything personally. That’s just not good, and it’s not healthy. I think one of my best attributes now, as a businesswoman and an artist and a professional person, is being able to think before I speak. I’ve learned that everything I think doesn’t necessarily need to be stated.”
On her BET Awards speech: “My point of saying what I said was that women need to have a perspective. If we’re out here saying that we’re so confident, and we’re so this and so that, but we don’t even trust ourselves to write down our own thoughts and spit it on a beat?”
On referencing her health scare in her BET speech: “I was making a point to say that the business kills so many people and we don’t even realize it. I can only imagine how many people in this business have died because they may not have wanted to… to be embarrassed publicly. We care so much about what the world thinks that we don’t live, really.”
On moving away from her family & her 16-year-old brother: “One day he asked my mother, ‘Do you ever think there’ll come a time we all live in the same house again, and Onika will be back and she’ll have her room, and I’ll have my room?’” Nicki says. “And it just broke my heart.” “I don’t want to get emotional,” she says, “I just miss them. Every time I talk about them, I get emotional.”
On Lil Wayne: “Now we can have conversations and enjoy each other, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel like he’s my peer because of how much he’s done for me. I’ll always think of him like the king.”
On those who question her credibility: “I felt like my pop music made me have to retell my story. My credibility as an MC—I never thought I would have to explain that. I thought it was so evident that I belonged here [in hip-hop].”
On being a role model for young black women: “But every time I do a business venture or something that isn’t the norm for a female rapper, I pat myself on the back. It’s important that corporate America can see a young black woman being able to sell things outside of music.”
Check out some photos from Nicki’s spread below. You can read her full cover story here.
[via Rap-Up]
