10 Things You Need to Know From Nicki Minaj’s Beats 1 Interview With Zane Lowe
Today (April 12) at 12 p.m. EST, Nicki Minaj arose from her Barbie cave and gave her first interview of 2018. Talking to Zane Lowe on his Apple Music Beats 1 radio show, the self-proclaimed "Queen of Rap" bared all about her feelings on Cardi B, Quavo, Lil Wayne and the state of the hip-hop industry. For the first time in quite some time, we see the Queens' rapper is more honest and vocal than ever.
During the interview, Nicki also released the full versions of her two latest singles, "Chun-Li" and "Barbie Tingz." On the latter track, produced by J. Reid of Chevi Music, The Pinkprint spitter appears to be coming for female rap artists that have been biting her style. "Rap bitches tell they team, 'Make ’em like Barbie'/Had to come off IG so they can't stalk me/All they do is copy looks, steal music too/Want to see what bitches do when they lose the blueprint," she rattles off. The teaser for Nicki's "Barbie Tingz" video has just been released as well.
Lil Wayne and Birdman also called in during the interview to praise the Cash Money artist, who's been laying low as of late. In December, Minaj disappeared off social media while prepping her fourth studio album. On April 10, the "No Frauds" rhymer showed up to a Los Angeles Lakers game as rookie Andre Ingram made his NBA debut, making it her first official public appearance of 2018.
Now she does her first official interview. Read below to find out what we learned from Nicki Minaj and Zane Lowe's candid talk on Beats 1.
She Was Hurt by Cardi B's Comment After "MotorSport" Was Released
"The only thing with Cardi that really, really, really hurt my feelings was the first interview she did after 'MotorSport' came out. I remember when I first came in the game, if a female of that stature had done a feature with me on it, I would only be singing their praises and saying, 'Thank you.' The first interview she did after 'MotorSport' came out, it just really hurt me, ’cause she looked so aggravated and angry. And the only thing she kept saying was saying was 'Oh, I didn't hear that, I didn't hear that verse.' I was like 'What?'... Her most recent interview, Cardi, that's when I just came back on Instagram, and I saw it and I felt good. I finally felt like she said something genuinely nice about me."
Quavo Didn't Feel the Need to Back Her Up on the Real "MotorSport" Story
"With 'MotorSport,' I kinda felt ambushed. At the time, I went on Twitter and explained how 'MotorSport' came about, and people were saying that I was lying. So I texted Quavo and I said, 'Hey, could you back me up on this?' Because I don't want people to think I'm lying. What do I have to lie about?' And he didn't back me up. He texted me, he was like, 'I would go on Twitter and back you up if you were my girl lol.' And that hurt, because he's somebody... I love him... It hurt my feelings to know that people would watch me be slaughtered, and not one person will step in to say the truth. They'll allow people to run with the lie because it's entertaining to make Nicki seem like a bad guy."
Drake and Meek Mill's Fallout Made Her Feel Imprisoned
"It was one of the hardest parts of my career, to date. Because at the time I did love both of them, and I couldn't erase the love that I had for my team. But I also couldn't speak out, you know, I really couldn't say much. And I felt so imprisoned in that moment... And when we later spoke about it, Drake said 'I wasn't worried about anything in that entire situation other than 'What if Nicki takes a shot at me? Then what?'... It was difficult to stay out of it. I was behind the scenes, of course, wishing it never happened. Even prior to it happening I tried to stop it from happening. I said [to Meek], 'Don't do that.'"
She's Looking to Sign New Artists and Producers to Her Label
"I'm signing producers and artists, by the way. So if you're an artist out there, or producer out there and you're looking for a home... Ask around, you guys. Or tweet me. One of the things about my fans, they're so instrumental in letting me know who is reaching out to me. So I say if you're a new artist or producer, tweet me and I guarantee you my fans will find you. And they'll say 'This a good person who should be on your label.' but of course anybody in my management team you can reach out to... I might change it, so I don't want to say the name of my label yet."
Nicki Has a New Documentary in the Works
"Nicki Minaj is not all about posting photos; I really make music. I really write my own music, and have been my writing my own music since the day I stepped in the game. And I never stopped. And I co-produce. I think when people see the documentary they will understand. Because Jimmy [Iovine] was like 'People need to see this, Nick. People don't know this about you, and they should know.'"
Seeing Meek Mill's Mother Cry Made Her Sad
"I'll get into detail on [Meek Mill] in the documentary and possibly on the album, but what I will say is what made me shed tears the other day was seeing his mother cry. Seeing his mother crying made me like... That was the first time I was like, 'Oh my God, I can't take it.' 'Cause she, during the relationship, was always so sweet to me. And even at the end, when we kinda both knew that it was too rocky, too bad to... You know, she always, always just showed me so much love. I still care about her, so I didn't like seeing her cry the other day."
She Forgives Azealia Banks for Her Rude Comments
"I know Azealia Banks. She's said some incredibly nasty things to me [and] about me in the past, but she's publicly apologized. And I don't hold grudges. When people apologize and they acknowledge their wrongs, I move on. And that goes for everybody... And also, Azealia Banks' new record is dope. She put out a song, it's dope."
She's Going on a World Tour This Year
"I'm gonna announce the tour soon and I can't wait to go around the world. I'm coming to everybody's country. Let's go!"
Trina Was the First Female Rapper to Show Her Love
"I remember when I first did a song with Trina for the first time. That's why to this day I love Trina, because she is the first female rapper I think that acknowledged me behind the scenes and said, 'I want you to be on my album.' To this day you've never heard me speak ill of Trina just because of that. That's very important."
Nicki Minaj Constantly Rewrites Her Songs
"The quality of this album is at such an all-time high that if I have do it again, just to make the little final touches on the album, then I'll do that. Because what's most important is that people get quality music. And for the record, I rewrite things all the time. Somebody came to my studio the other day, and I asked Juice, my engineer, 'I need a masters. What version is it, Juice?' He goes 'Version 16.' And the person sitting there said 'Version 16?! What the fuck...' Yeah, because I'm a perfectionist. When I write something, it's never done until the moment it comes out; the moment you hear it. And you can ask everybody. You can ask Lil Uzi [Vert]; you can ask Yo Gotti; you can ask Diplo. I rewrite all the time, because that's just what Nicki Minaj do, ya dig? I love perfection."