Nicki Minaj Talks 'Epic' Album & Why She's Over Meek Mill's Beefs
Nicki Minaj is all over New York radio today. After speaking with Power 105 about twerking, Lauryn Hill, and a new Fetty Wap collaboration, the rap queen phoned Hot 97 for a separate in-depth Q&A.
This time, Nicki opened up about her relationship with Meek Mill and how they work together and apart. She also explained why she’s over his rap beefs.
“I think everybody’s over it,” she said. “Come on. It’s pretty played out. It’s over. Sometimes you’re put in a position and you react…But let me tell you something, I do not believe there’s any such thing as negative publicity.”
During the interview, Nicki also revealed that she will be doing more features before her Pinkprint follow-up arrives.
“The album is so freaking epic,” she explained, “but it’s a journey. Before my first album came out, I was on everybody’s song. I had my own campaign without realizing it. Right now, I have to complete a few things for other people…What that does, throughout my career, it makes me get back to my fun side and it makes me push my pen.”
Hear the full interview and see highlights from the Q&A below.
On freestyles and features: “That’s the time where you show off as a rapper, I think. With the album, I feel sometimes more pressure to stay on topic, to be serious, or to have a message. The features is a way for me to just get back in the ring. You guys will be hearing a lot more features soon.”
On Remy Ma and Foxy Brown: “When I was working on The Pinkprint, I wanted to do a song with Remy and Foxy. I still have the song to this day. It was on a Diplo beat, but was super hood and hard. I love them both so I think that’s only a matter of time before she and I do something.”
On Meek Mill: “The song ‘All Eyes On You’ that he, me, and Chris Brown did, I definitely pushed for him to do that song…He didn’t really want to do it at first, but once I laid my verse, he was like, ‘I fuck with this now that you laid your verse. It seems complete now.’ That was good. A platinum single ain’t bad. A lot of times I’m in the studio so I’m hearing everything and I’m always gonna tell him what I love. I can’t hide that…But there are times that he doesn’t share with me what he’s about to do.”
On Meek’s battle raps: “When it’s battle rap stuff, the battle business, he don’t really share that with me. He’ll just go in and do him. I’ll react as a fan.”
On Meek’s beefs: “I think everybody’s over it. Come on. It’s pretty played out. It’s over. Sometimes you’re put in a position and you react…But let me tell you something, I do not believe there’s any such thing as negative publicity. That’s what I tell him: ‘You must have something people see in you.’ There’s a lot of things I know about other rappers that I just be quiet because as a man, rapper, and artist, he runs his shit the way I run my shit. He’s the boss of his stuff. I don’t want to step in too much because it’s not my place. Behind the scenes, I’m such a rapper that I’m always critiquing everything, even with him…But he gotta live his own life at a certain point in terms of his career choices. I strongly believe that great music changes everything. If ni**as got your name in they mouth for a year or two, thank them. If you come out with great music after all of that, nothing matters.”
On social media: “Social media has given so much power to irrelevant shit. The masses now have a voice and if you’re not careful, you will allow them to shape what you do?”