In FADER #66, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd told the fairy tale of how Queens cookie Nicki Minaj, "was discovered on Myspace in 2006 by Dirty Money CEO Fendi and released her first mixtape, Playtime is Over, on his Brooklyn imprint. After a couple years sharpening her skills, Minaj flipped Notorious BIG’s “Warning” into a biting tale of a cheating man in Fendi’s street video 'The Come Up'. Lil Wayne saw it, signed her to Young Money, and not long after, she appeared with him on 'Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,' from the wildly popular Da Drought 3 mixtape." Fast forward a million and a half albums sold plus countless wigs—today Minaj appears as a princess seeking peace of mind, alongside consummate New York queen Mary J. Blige on "Feel Inside," the lead single for her (TENTH) release, My Life II: The Journey Continues. For these women, note, fantasy became real.
Update: "Feel Inside" isn't a real-deal MJB/Minaj collabo, but a studio-mash of two in-progress songs the ladies are working on. Mary and Minaj are working on a song together, though, but this isn't it.
Download: Mary J. Blige f. Nicki Minaj, "Feel Inside"
