Expectations are high for Nicki Minaj’s fourth studio album, as it will reportedly mark a new phase for the 34-year-old artist.
"This era will be a billion times more epic than anything ‘Anaconda’ could have delivered," she told Dazed magazine when asked about the upcoming release. "I think this era will definitely be the most memorable and the most impactful of my career yet."
Though Nicki has teased the project for a while now, fans haven’t received many details, including its title, features and release date, though Nicki did recently shed more light on the direction this album will go in—in terms of sound and overall vibe.
"Sonically, I know what the album’s about to sound like. I know what this album is gonna mean to my fans. This album is everything in my life coming full circle and me being truly, genuinely happy," she told T Magazine. "It feels almost like a celebration. The last album, The Pink Print, was almost like my diary, closing the chapter on certain things and not knowing if I was happy or sad about beginning new chapters. I was really writing about feeling unsure. Now, I can tell you guys what happened for the last two years of my life. I know who I am. I am getting Nicki Minaj figured out with this album and I’m loving her.”
Nicki, whose last album drop was 2014’s The Pinkprint, went on to say she is in a good place, creatively. In fact, the rapper insists she hasn’t felt this free, inspired and excited since she started releasing albums under a major record label. She spoke about the transition from mixtapes to studio albums and how it affected the joy that typically came with creating music.
"I’m not going to blame a label. You just overthink. When you’re doing your own little thing, you feel like, I can be myself, I can be crazy," she said. "When you start working with a record company, you start thinking you need a bigger sound. I wanted to get back to the place where I wasn’t second-guessing things so much. Sometimes simple is OK.”
Nicki is one of seven cover stars for T Magazine’s Greats issue, which will hit newsstands Sunday.
You can read her full interview—in which she also discusses the qualities that make a great rapper, Kanye West’s compliment and her new confidence—at the New York Times’ website.
