Although Nicki Minaj is working hard on her fourth studio album, she took some time off and gave an interesting interview to XXL magazine for one of their 20th-anniversary covers. The 35-year-old rapper talked about her influences, status of female rappers in the industry and her role in the genre.
Nicki revealed that she was influenced the most by Eminem, Lauryn Hill, and Foxy Brown while also mentioning Nas, with whom she is rumored to have a romantic relationship.
She also discussed the position of female rappers in the industry, saying that they don’t “got that much credit,” and that she had the luck of bursting on the scene at the right time.
“I don’t think [female rappers] got that much credit.” said, Nicki Minaj. “I think female rappers have always been dope and influential, but I think I sort of came in at a time where big business was paying attention, so I was able to capitalize off of a lot of deals and business ventures.”
Finally, “Anaconda“ singer discussed her role in hip-hop, saying that she contributed by “reintroducing the female rapper to pop culture.”
“My role in hip-hop has been super unique because when my first album came out, there had been so much time where there wasn’t a female rap album out that went platinum,” she said. “There wasn’t a big female rap presence right before I got in. So, my role was really reintroducing the female rapper to pop culture.”
Nicki Minaj started off 2017 with singles “No Frauds,” “Changed It,” and “Regret In Your Tears,” all of which entered the US Billboard Hot 100 and announced Nicki Minaj’s first album 2014’s The Pinkprint. She was also featuring artist on numerous other singles in 2017, including the top 10 Billboard Hot 100 entries Yo Gotti’s “Rake It Up” and Migos’ “MotorSport.”
