It’s hard to imagine My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy without the incendiary hit single "Monster." But according to Nicki Minaj, that was almost the case.
In celebration of the record’s seventh anniversary, The Pinkprint rapper reflected on her iconic verse and what it meant to collaborate with some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Nicki also mentioned the time she had to convince Kanye West to keep "Monster" on MBDTF, after he expressed his hesitation.
“Kanye called me to tell me Jay put a verse on this song & that he was still deciding if he would put it on his album," she wrote on Instagram. "Haha. It was like an hour long call where I tried to convince him to let the song stay on his album. He felt this verse would end up being the talk of the album. I said: YOU’RE KANYE WEST!!!!"
She also admitted there was a minor disagreement when it came to her signature growl. Kanye wanted more, while Nicki feared it would be "overkill."
You can read Nicki’s full note, which includes shout outs to Amber Rose and Blac Chyna, below.
"Monster" debuted Sept. 21, 2010, on Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Friday music program; however, it didn’t get an official release until Oct. 23, about a month before MBDTF dropped. The song went on to receive a platinum certification as well as plenty of critical praise, with many people applauding Nicki as the track's standout. Pretty impressive considering she was featured alongside Jay Z, Rick Ross, and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.
