08 November 2014
Newsdesk
Nicki Minaj graces this week's cover of Billboard, where the "Bulletproof Diva" and discusses her unapologetic quest to rule hip hop and build an empire.
A new crop of Top 40 rivals with similar stylings - hello, Iggy! - are only hardening her resolve: "You should always be competing. You should always be trying to show that you're the best."
She talked about building resolve at an early age from a rough neighborhood and even bleaker household. Minaj witnessed her father, who was an alcoholic and drug addict, beat her mother. At one point, he tried to kill her mother by setting fire to the family's home. "My mother always had this attitude that she didn't take no for an answer," reflects Minaj. "So I guess that carried on to me."
On her time at American Idol she recalled "Once I did Idol, a lot of people would come up to me and say, ‘Oh, you're smarter than I thought,' " she recalls. "What does that mean? Was I making weird faces [that made you think] I was stupid?" ... "Thank God I did that show. At least I was able to show my true self, speak and have a mind."
Rebutting criticisms of the "Anaconda" video and embracing curves she says "Everything we see that's labeled as beautiful is very skinny," she says. "In the song I kind of say, ‘F--- them skinny girls.' But it's all love. I consider myself a skinny girl." She adds, "I went overboard with the video to show that I'm not going to hide. And those big-booty dancers I have, they're not going to hide. Black girls should feel sexy, powerful and important too."
On staying competitive she says "It's corny when rappers feel like they've made it and they don't have to prove themselves anymore. You should always be competing. You should always be trying to show that you're the best. My album is going to be important to hip-hop."
