TIME Magazine just rolled out their annual "Most Influential People" issue for 2016, which includes covers for Nicki Minaj, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Zuckerberg, Priyanka Chopra, and more. For Nicki's cover, which you can see below, she had none other than her Young Money boss, Lil Wayne, pen a touching letter about how they first met and the places her career has gone. "I always wanted more for my artists and saw Nicki’s potential from the first moment I laid eyes on her," Wayne wrote. "She’s reached far beyond everything I would have imagined. Man, she’s so influential and doing all the right things. She’s an icon, a boss and a role model to all these young girls out here on how to do it the right way."
In a video to accompany the cover, Nicki also talked about how she's exceeded every expectation every put in front of her, and from the jump she always wanted to be known for being a mogul and writing all of her own raps. Mission accomplished, Nicki. You can read her full cover story here, and check out Weezy's letter below.
You know, in New York they used to have these street DVDs. It just so happened that I appeared in one, and when I looked at the finished product, Nicki Minaj was on a part of the DVD. I was like, “Woooooow!” She was just being Nicki without the glitz and glamour. When I heard the first two and four bars, it wasn’t even about her rapping better than any female rapper. It was about, man, she’s rapping better than other rappers—period.
I always wanted more for my artists and saw Nicki’s potential from the first moment I laid eyes on her. She’s reached far beyond everything I would have imagined. Man, she’s so influential and doing all the right things. She’s an icon, a boss and a role model to all these young girls out here on how to do it the right way. Her work ethic speaks volumes and has yielded these results. The scary thing is she’s still going. Ha! Nicki Minaj will go down as one of the best to do it in the history of music.
