Q&A with Nicki Minaj
Just don’t ask about Mariah Carey
NEW YORK — Nicki Minaj, the rapper who has had much success on the pop charts with songs like Starships and Super Bass, says the re-release of her sophomore album will be nostalgic for her early fans.
“The feel of the re-release is kind of like my first sound, like the mixtapes,” she said of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – The Re-Up, out Tuesday.
The re-release comes seven months after Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. That album features pop, dance, R&B, reggae and rap sounds. It’s a far stretch from when Minaj kicked off her career as a sexed-up street rapper, signed by Lil Wayne in 2009 after she released three buzzed-about mixtapes. Her official debut, Pink Friday, is near double platinum and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
But the 29-year-old says she’s “back to basics” on her eight-track Re-Up, which features Lil Wayne, Tyga and some of Minaj’s proteges.
“It sounds probably more hood in some ways, for a lack of a better word,” she said.
Her pop fans won’t be disappointed, though: There’s also the Dr. Luke-produced, dance-flavoured Va Va Voom.
In a recent telephone interview, Minaj talked about her new music, artists she is mentoring and working (kind of) with Mariah Carey on American Idol.
The Associated Press: What’s the energy like on the re-release?
Minaj: I studied a lot of the production side of this particular rerelease. It was just important that the beats sounded a certain way... I was really able to step up the writing on it as well.
AP: This album features some of your signed artists, Parker and Thomas Brinx. How’s it feel to pay it forward?
Minaj: It’s exciting because I think that I’m finally in a position to open doors for other people and it’s a great feeling because I feel like they’re so, so talented. Parker, he’s actually from London and he’s a writer, producer, singer... and I’m going to be putting out music with him at the top of the year... Brinx was someone that I knew for a long time.
I was rapping with him before I even got a deal and his skills have always been so exceptional... So I always felt like if I got an opportunity I would bring him along and now I have that opportunity.
AP: You let cameras follow you for a three-part reality special on E! What was that like? Minaj: It’s been fun because I think that my fans are getting a real kick out of it. I’m happy I did it... I don’t really have an opinion on it. It was just a decision for me to show more of myself and I never really know how people are going to react to it, so I’ve started stepping back and away, and getting away from just overthinking it.
AP: Were you hesitant about doing it? Minaj: Of course I was hesitant. I’m a very private person. I definitely thought about it a lot and then I went for it.
AP: What are your favourite albums of the year?
Minaj: I really have been enjoying all of the hip-hop albums that came out because I feel like hiphop artists have been taking their careers into their own hands and I just want to give a salute to everyone because it’s not easy... The music has been sort of changing and adding new sounds to the game and introducing new people to the game, so I would just give a big nod to hip-hop for 2012.
AP: Is working as a judge on American Idol what you thought it would be like?
Minaj: No... They’re very long days and that’s the biggest thing I didn’t really expect... I’m used to being able to handle my business at any time, and when it’s American Idol, sometimes we’re in one place for eight hours judging people and I can’t go to my BlackBerry every five minutes like I’m used to.
So that kind of slows my business down and that is something that I never could have foreseen. But, as a whole, I love the experience that I’m getting.
AP: How are you and Mariah Carey, another new judge on Idol, getting along?
Minaj: (Click.)