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Nicki Minaj Covers Complex Magazine (Oct./ Nov. 2010 Issue)

Nicki Minaj Covers Complex Magazine (Oct./ Nov. 2010 Issue) Full story after the jump

Complex: Everyone has this image of you as a cartoon character with outlandish wigs, but at our shoot today you were much more low-key.

Nicki Minaj: [Laughs.] Every woman is a character—but people need to see I’m a regular human. It’s like you wear a pink wig and you’re no longer human all of sudden. You’re a thing. Like today [the photographer] was like, “Where is that Nicki Minaj smile?” But this shoot doesn’t call for the Nicki Minaj smile. You guys wanted me subdued, so I’m gonna give you a different side. I’m not gonna pull a string and be like, “It’s Barbie, bitch!”

Is it intimidating to know that, besides The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, there are very few indisputable classic female rap albums?

Nicki Minaj: I want to do well, but I don’t think I’m intimidated. People’s expectations of what I’m capable of doing are very low. People have been used to hearing little one-liners and me play around.

You think people still underestimate you, even with the success you’ve been having?

Nicki Minaj: Absolutely. A lot of people don’t know I wrote all the hooks on the album. I arranged the music, did the transitions. [Other female rappers] are told what to do, but I run my entire empire; I don’t think people would expect that.

Was it hard for you to get that latitude from the label?

Nicki Minaj: My generation is creative; all we need is a Baby or a Slim to back us. We don’t need you to tell us what to do, but we need you to nurture our decisions, and I think Cash Money understands that. I didn’t have Wayne obviously, since he’s been in jail, so there wasn’t anyone I could have called and asked for help. Actually, when I’ve relied on people in the past is when I’ve made the biggest mistakes. When I trust my gut, I win.

What are some of your biggest mistakes?

Nicki Minaj: I won’t say.

Were they recent mistakes?

Nicki Minaj: Yeah.

Recent as in “Massive Attack”?

Nicki Minaj: [Laughs.] Next question.

Full cover story here.

This post was written by: Franklin Manuel

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