
Nicki Minaj just touched down in Japan, and you can only imagine the mutual adoration for her out there. In the past few days, the ramp up for her Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded and revealed collaborations with Nas, Cam and Chris Brown…as well as a multi-million dollar Pepsi deal. But today, the Complex Magazine team released Nicki Minaj’s cover feature! Part 2 of their 10th Anniversary issue, and the counterpart to their Justin Bieber cover.
This Nicki Minaj story is extra near and dear to my heart because Complex’s EIC and a dear friend, Noah Callahan-Bever asked me to come out of my weird self-imposed magazine retirement to interview Nicki in Indianapolis during SuperBowl weekend….and talk about her unstoppable ambition, her exhausting run, her dreams of having a family, and….of course, the pitfalls and daggers she’s facing every day.
While setting up the interview, it was clear that Nicki has been forced to fortify her fences….as soon as we sat down, she became the same girl I first met in 2009…with Auntie Deb, before the Young Money signing, before the fashion world embraces, before it all. Equal parts lion and lamb. Happy to talk about meeting her idols (Madonna), gripe about her performances, and sip on margaritas (yes, salt all on the rimrimrimrim).
(Thank you to NCB, Rob Kenner, Nicki, Safaree, Kate Rosen, and Ebro)
Nicki Minaj: Doing the Super Bowl with Madonna doesn’t really change Nicki Minaj’s personal goals. My goal right now is still to put out Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, sell five million copies eventually, and tour every country in the world. That’s what I’ve been working toward. So while the world is talking about, “Oh my God, I can’t believe Nicki Minaj was at the Super Bowl!” I’m mixing and mastering my music. In my scheme of things it’s way bigger.
Miss Info: Because those surprises can’t replace the things you want to achieve by yourself?
Nicki Minaj: Because my goal the whole time has been for people to see me as a stand-alone artist. I came out with Young Money, the biggest hip-hop label in the world at that time. And then it was, “How do I branch away from Lil Wayne?” One of my biggest records was with Drake, “Moment 4 Life.” Even with the Super Bowl, it’s Madonna’s moment. I’m just sharing in that moment. It’s not Nicki Minaj’s moment. Nicki Minaj at the Grammys—that’s my moment. I’ve just been constantly on this quest to stand alone.
Note: There was an interesting conversation that Nicki and I had that somehow didn’t make it into the feature, but Nicki basically said that she has a 5 year plan…and that part of her future she insists will include getting married and having kids. In fact, as driven as she is…Nicki almost seemed to have this ideal white-picket dream life in mind. Hubby and babies, working every once in a while, like a Gwyneth Paltrow…or again, like a Madonna.
Check out more of Nicki’s stunning photos and more of our one-on-one chat….
After the jump!
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