Nicki Minaj is on the cover of the latest issue of Marie Claire this month, the second time she's appeared on the magazine's cover, and she has a lot to say about making her own lane as a woman in hip-hop. She talks about drawing career inspiration from Jay Z, wondering why no other female rappers were leveraging their success in this way. âI can look at someoneâs career and just pinpoint the dos and the donâts, and the one person Iâve done that with for my entire career was Jay Z. He did such a great job being an authentic street guy and a businessman, and I was like, 'Why arenât there women doing that, taking the success from rap and channeling it into their empire?' I felt like anything he could do, I could do.â
She's discussed this before. Way back in 2012, she made headlines for saying something similar in an Allure magazine profile. "I'm coming for your spot, Mr. Mogul," she said of Jay, which some people took as a diss or challenge to him. Looking back on it, it's clear that she was alluding to the business inspiration she took from his career.
Nicki also touched on how empowering it is to work with Beyoncé. "Every time Bey and I do something together, I see how women are inspired, and it has nothing to do with how we look," she said. "It has to do with how we are owning who we are and telling other women you should be the boss of your own career and the brains behind your life or your decisions or your art. I just love that feeling."
You can catch the entire interview on Marie Claire here.Â
