Nicki Fact; Minaj, 29, was born in Trinidad and brought up by her grandmother while her parents made a new life for themselves in America
Was she always determined to out-brag and out-curse the boys? "Yes, definitely. That's why I say stuff like, 'Dick in your face', because I don't even wanna refer to female genitalia any more." Why not? "I just feel I have bigger balls than the boys."
Has she always felt like that?
"Yes."
"Is that the persona or you?" I ask.
"No, that's definitely me."
"Is that because you don't think boys have big balls, or because you have huge ones?"
"I just have huge ones."
"Can anybody compete on the balls front?"
"Yeah – Madonna."
"Who'd win in a balls-off with Madonna?"
"Me, definitely."
Minaj refers so often to her male genitalia, it's not surprising there's been talk about her sexuality. When asked if she thought there could be a successful gay rapper in a notoriously homophobic world, she suggested she was gay. "TMZ were just yelling stuff out to me, and they were like, 'Do you think there'll ever be a gay rapper?' and I said, 'You have one.' It was just in fun." So she likes boys? Silence. Girls? Silence. Both? Silence. Neither? She grins. "Yeah, none." Oh come on! "I don't like any of them. Sexually or otherwise." Minaj says exactly what she wants to: not a word more or less. There are, of course, contradictions aplenty. Her music certainly does not suggest an aversion to sex or sexuality. Nor does her appearance. After rowing publicly with fellow rapper Lil' Kim, who claimed Minaj had borrowed heavily from her, she asked, "Why in the black community have we got to hate on each other? Gaga didn't on Madonna… we're helping each other." Fine sentiments, but in the songItty Bitty Piggy, she states, "It's like I've just single-handedly annihilated, you know/Every rap bitch in the building". Hardly collegiate.
Actually, she says, on her first album Pink Friday she was determined not to be dirty or boastful. "I wanted to prove the point that I didn't have to rap about it. But I feel like now, my fans speak like that, and I don't have to walk round being a goddamned prude. And my music doesn't need to sound like a prude unless I'm doing a pop song." She says the word "pop" breathily, ironically.
The irony, though, is that filth-spitting Minaj is now better known for pop records for little princesses. Has it surprised her how young her fans are? "Yes, of course. I never thought I'd have young fans. Never." Some older fans are suggesting she's sold out by singing pop. But it's funny, I say, listening to the first mix tapes she recorded…
She finishes off the sentence for me. "…You hear me singing. And that's the thing. I really want you to write that. Because it's the most bullshit thing I've ever heard – you liked me only when I was doing rap. I never only did rap. My first single was called Your Love, and it was a pop song. I did a song called Knockout with Lil Wayne about three years ago. Nobody said anything about that. Why? Because it didn't become huge like Starships. That's what irritates me. People always want to talk about who I was, but I've always been singing, always been experimenting with pop music. So the fact that it got huge one day, should I apologise for that? Should I apologise that Starships and Super Bass did well, and children like them, and Middle America can sing along? There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just broadening my fan base. I think everyone should enjoy music." If she wants to duet on a power ballad with Rihanna, that's her choice, she says.
Doesn't she find it strange, hearing eight-year-old girls, such as Sophia, singing her songs about hos and bitches? "No, she doesn't say ho. She never cursed." Would it worry her if she did? "Of course. I'd be very upset. I don't want children cursing. I'm very strict on my nieces and my little brother. They have to listen to clean versions of music. Even my music."
So she's quite puritanical? "Well, if that's what you call it. But if you asked any adult, 'Would you like your children knowing every part of your life and speaking exactly the way you speak when you talk to adults?', they'd say no, so I'm a firm believer in children remaining children."
Is there pressure to change her image for the children? "Sometimes it feels like I have to change, but I can't. What rapper changes themselves for children?"
"So if some business guru came up to you and said, 'Hey, Nicki, if you lose the swear words…'"
Before the question is out she blows up. "Why do people ask me to lose swear words? Do people ask Eminem to lose swear words? Do they ask Lil Wayne to lose swear words? I did an interview the other day and when I saw it back I'm like, why the hell did she make the interview all about some goddamned kids? It was crazy. Five-year-old children shouldn't be the subject of a Nicki Minaj interview."
Excuse me, I say, trying to interrupt, can I just ask my question: what would you say to the business guru? "Well, first I want you to answer my question, then I'll answer yours."
I'm tempted to say that Eminem and Lil Wayne don't have such impressionable fans, but I don't think that's actually true. "Because it's a sexist world out there and we apply different values to women?" I offer.
"So make sure you put that in your article. Cos we're getting this on tape."
I ask if she wants to write up the interview herself. "No, I just want you to put that in. Don't you think it's strange, though? I used to see Eminem in concert and people were bringing their little brother or whatever. Nobody stops them and says [she adopts a posh English accent], 'Would you stop swearing, Eminem, for loads of money?' I don't get it, I don't get it."
And now there's no stopping Minaj. "On the one hand you have people saying, 'We want her to be hard and raunchy and explicit', and on the other hand there's, 'Nicki Minaj, would you stop swearing for the children, please?' It's like, what d'you want me to be? How many different people can I fucking be?" She's flowing so fast, she's almost rapping.
She stops, once again calm and considered, to say how much she loves her young fans and how she sees herself as a role model. "I tell my Barbs, 'Stay in school, respect your body, don't go giving it away, don't depend on a man.' I tell them that all the time." Who's been her role model? "My mother," she answers instantly. And her heroes? "God. And my mother." Does she consider herself political? "No." Is she going to vote Republican? "Of course not!" she says outraged.
So she is political? She cackles.
On Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, four of the songs are produced byRedOne, best known for working with Lady Gaga. The cover imageconfused me, I say. At first glance I thought it was Gaga, or at least a spoof of her.
Minaj gives me a look that could kill at a thousand paces. "You think that looks like Gaga? Absolutely not. I have no idea what you're talking about… Maybe little black kids shouldn't wear blond hair?"
At which point there is much muttering about my manners from the men in the room, and I'm told there is no time for any more questions. But Minaj is more forgiving than her heavies. I tell her that the reason I'd asked about the imaginary business guru was because she appears to take the business side of things seriously. Her face lights up – this time with pleasure. "Absolutely. Everything I do, I do with business in my head. If you're not savvy, this business will eat you alive. A lot of people see it as a big party. And when that party is up, what are you going to do?
"I want to show little girls that the possibilities are endless. That's my goal – to not only do it for myself, but to show them I can do whatever I put my mind to. I don't give a damn if I was born poor, I can come out of this shit with something to offer my children and grandchil
![Battleship Premiere In Sydney [10 April 2012] - rihanna photo](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uAeVUZ4izwfhLoI68sIKwii7WZ02PsnEGt5BqRQ0xPIOmzLGET7vJ8ZAgVc_gm89Cu6YimKT5xzzSyScrssPTKDsZgs0T1ZSZeW9vZriQyh3wQr6f-v3hQL9Ul1vgPg-5XcJEDtnaHJ-_1wRyP0TKXeXMgorLzWtpYeMmZChvt78KjIYqDJCS1pD1KpbJS6bxFWczmU44M8k3MuEQ6=s0-d)
![Battleship Premiere In Sydney [10 April 2012] - rihanna photo](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tyV7722dpxoJKg6qXzrhACyb3ILZn1QUd5GATmGkVUcGzyzOCg-zyH5kLPLztTrNZD_4dpTIHoyQpmbAYLgPXvcKR_xTb-JbxbsjUdAjAFF-SQsulZV7LxZYqvqpkrJq1eLxK672BLvev1_6_4B7Hl9TrMgpT4uqWnMBqGqG-gqbFMJgwDZvDLBXILauffkS9lVwfPa4h6iKsgn3o=s0-d)
![Battleship Premiere In Sydney [10 April 2012] - rihanna photo](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ujtwnZ4XG6IMICMucIbxxMHjUCbl6E3FQK0AdOXPQScFj3HtrDpIhRaRv9UX3ed1QSo0lpJ-XWx_NUU7Kdd36ituNJgkwnm86FBXZ18zOSmO-MfwgCTpmLloDmyn7-pYqolrWyr9fU_TmbBkCeSUVsRccCy_KC4graLZ59oSFGqTeavTL5mOSJp1WMw2dDShJHIFW_A9t4qRAkxCg=s0-d)
