8 Things We Learned From Nicki Minaj’s Billboard Interview
“I could have bodied a lot of the records that came out in the last year.”
Nicki Minaj—whose single "Truffle Butter" was No. 30 on FADER's list of the best songs in 2015—graced the latest cover of Billboard. The star discussed television, politics, and bonding with Beyoncé over the weather in Los Angeles. Check out the full story here, and read highlights from the conversation below.
On her future ABC Family sitcom: “I am maybe too involved… I found one girl who I’m obsessed with who might play me, and someone who could rival her. So I’ve been coaching them both. I do a beat, let them rap. I do little dances with them. It has been magical… I narrate this show, like Chris Rock narrates Everybody Hates Chris. It was little differences that made that show stand out. I want to have those nuances. My first day, I said to the casting director: “This will not be a clichéd black show.”
On her acting ambitions: “Meryl Streep is one of my favorite artists of all time…. I love how she can go from The Devil Wears Prada to The Iron Lady—she’s so incredible in that. My dream would be to have that type of acting career, where I can do both things believably.”
On her favorite TV: “I watch Investigation Discovery all day. All day. Like, I know everything about law and crime-solving… Meek thinks that I’m planning on killing him.”
On the War On Drugs: “What it has become is not a war on drugs. It has become slavery. Or something crazier… The sentences are inhumane. I love the president for trying to be a voice for people who no other person has ever tried to be a voice for.”
On Hillary Clinton: “I support her as a woman. Am I convinced that she should be the next president? I still want to be open-minded about everyone… every woman should feel inspired by [her], no matter if you’re voting for her or not.”
On the death of Sandra Bland: “I did research on the Sandra Bland case. That’s why it hit me so hard. I remember speaking to other women at the time. This could have been me. I’m a sassy woman. I may have given a little bit of attitude to a police officer. I could have never come home.”
On her move to L.A.: “I love it [in Los Angeles]. I spoke to Beyoncé about it, because she came out here recently too. She said exactly what I used to say when I first moved here. We just feel happier. She was saying that simple things that would normally feel like a task, they don’t [feel that way] out here… because it looks so beautiful.”
On future musical projects: “I’ll definitely drop a mixtape… I want to touch a couple of beats that I wasn’t on. I could have bodied a lot of the records that came out in the last year. But the main thing is, I have to set an example for female rappers… I want to make sure women do not forget the importance of that grind, that walk up to the top. You can’t get there with a song. Because once that song is no longer hot, you’re no longer hot. It’s important that you are bigger than your music. Some fans are going to fuck with me for the rest of my life because they know where I came from. Fans know my struggle. How hungry I was. That I was not settling, I was not giving up. I was on everybody’s beat. I was ruthless.”