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Nicki Minaj Talks Motherhood, Female Rap, & Being a Sex Symbol with Jada Pinkett Smith
Nicki Minaj is getting into some things.
The rap queen graces the cover of Interview magazine where she stuns in a pink wig while donning a body-hugging dress by Savage x Fenty.
For the interview, she had a heart to heart with Jada Pinkett Smith, who she grew up idolizing. “This is a dream come true for me,” she told the actress.
During their “Pink Table Talk,” Nicki weighed in on the state of hip-hop, how she feels about being a sex symbol, and her many roles, including being a mother to her 2-year-old son Papa Bear.
“First of all, being a mother is the biggest freaking blessing on planet earth,” Nicki gushed. “I’m so happy that god allowed me to experience this. I’ve always loved children and I’ve always been great with children, but in the last few years I started thinking, I know it’s going to be a huge shift for me because I’m used to going wherever I want, whenever I want, and I knew having a baby was going to change all that.”
She admits that she was hesitant to show the video for “Super Freaky Girl” to her husband, Kenneth Petty. “I’m big on respect and loyalty, but at the same time, I do feel that for the last couple of years, I have been leaning more towards wife and mom,” she said. “So I had this conversation with myself and I had it with him as well, but it’s like, I don’t know how to be a watered-down Nicki Minaj. I just can’t do it!”
While she may be a sex symbol, she struggles with her sexual image, and had to turn down some collaborations because the songs were too much. “A lot of people were sending me songs, Jada, a lot of female rappers, especially, and I didn’t want to be mean, but every other word was ‘pussy’ and ‘fu**ing’ and da da da, and I wasn’t there. I don’t think I can ever fully be there.”
She even turned down Gunna’s “P power” because she wasn’t able to get in the right headspace. “I turned down a Gunna song because it was just moaning and groaning on the track, but Drake ended up doing it and it worked great for them,” she said. “I said, ‘Look, sweetheart, I’ve put this song on 50 times to try to write to it. I can’t. I’m just not in that moment right now.’”
Nicki feels that people don’t know the real her. “I don’t think the new female rappers really understand who I am. A lot of the girls that came before me, they really were those sexual beings, and I was so inspired by them. But I’m not like that, I’m more the goofy girl.”
She also weighed in on the state of female rap (“I wish there was some more singing”) and gave props to Drake and Lil Baby for their melodies. “I think over time, because the quote-unquote ‘rapper’ or the ‘hood’ person has always been more appealing to us, and when I say to us, I mean to us. Now it’s like, that’s who everybody wants to be. So now, the singers went out of style. But I wish the singers were back in style.”
These days, Nicki feels that hip-hop is lacking individuality. “What I’m seeing now is that so many new artists are trying to become the person they looked up to instead of giving us a new flavor! And it’s irking the crap out of me!”
While she was spending money fast early in her career, Nicki is saving her coins. “I wish people understood, save your money,” she said. “Every time people come to my house, they think they’re going to see 20 cars in the driveway, living la vida loca. No, no, no. I don’t have nobody to prove anything to. I’m quite happy. Thank god that I could not work for the last couple of years and still be good.”
“Super Freaky Girl” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains in the top 10. Following the song’s success, Nicki is fast-tracking her album for a 2022 release. “It’ll probably expedite the album to come out this year,” she said.
