Nicki Minaj Covers ‘FADER’ Magazine, Talks ‘The Pink Print’, Mixtape Days & BET Awards Speech: 6 Pics

Bradley Stern | August 5, 2014 6:40 am

From being one-third of “Bang Bang” with Ariana Grande and Jessie J, to adding a ***flawless touch to Beyonce‘s “Flawless” to clapping her booty on “Anaconda,” Nicki Minaj is suddenly quite busy all over again. And she’s not slowing down either, having just popped up on the cover of FADER‘s August/September 2014 fall fashion issue.

The rapstress, who the magazine declares “Earth’s best rapper,” talks everything from her early mixtapes days (“I think early on in my career, I was… I was… just a little bit crazy”), to missing her family at home in New York City, to that potential Iggy Azalea songwriting slight at the BET Awards.

“My point of saying what I said was that women need to have a perspective. If we’re out here saying that we’re so confident, and we’re so this and so that, but we don’t even trust ourselves to write down our own thoughts and spit it on a beat? It just doesn’t add up” she says of her “no, no, no shade.”

She also tackles the complicated world of balancing pop and hip-hop with her music (“My credibility as an MC—I never thought I would have to explain that,” she admits), as well as the importance of her legacy as a successful black businesswoman. “It’s important that corporate America can see a young black woman being able to sell things outside of music,” she notes.

And of course, to keep the Barbs satisfied, Nicki also glazes over details of her still-in-progress third studio record, calling it “the blueprint for female rappers to come.”

From FADER: “The album’s set to feature hit-makers like Dr. Luke, Ester Dean, Boi-1da and Detail, and she’d like to get Rihanna in the mix. Drake will contribute, too, though ‘he’s unpredictable,’ she says. And of course, she assures me, ‘The rhymes will be tight.'”

Are you ready for Nicki to return in a big way? Check out the full interview over at FADER, and click above to check out the full gallery.

Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.

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