Nicki Minaj is the latest artist to get the coveted Interview magazine treatment.
In the resulting discussion, conducted by Red Table Talk co-host Jada Pinkett Smith, Nicki spoke candidly about the “biggest freaking blessing” of motherhood, as well as traded insights on how parenthood is often unfairly pointed to as being in opposition to the continuation of one’s artistic journey.
“I’m so happy that god allowed me to experience this,” Nicki said, as seen here. “I’ve always loved children and I’ve always been great with children, but in the last few years I started thinking, I know it’s going to be a huge shift for me because I’m used to going wherever I want, whenever I want, and I knew having a baby was going to change all that. But I absolutely love it.”
Minaj added that she loves her and Kenneth Petty’s son, who was born in September 2020, “so much that I don’t know if it’s normal.” She also revealed that a delay in getting back to work after the birth has given her “real bad separation anxiety.”
Deeper into her and Jada’s conversation, the response to the “Super Freaky Girl” single was discussed at length, with Nicki reflecting on how the track (which serves as the lead single from her upcoming new album) allowed her the opportunity to “tap back into” who she is. In Nicki’s words, this came about, in part, due to her own assessment of the “funny and goofy and stupid” lyrical content of her earlier work.
Continuing the topic, Nicki explained why she believes several fellow artists don’t “really understand” who she is. This led into mentions of Gunna and Drake, with Nicki again noting her decision to decline a collaboration with the former while also calling for his release amid the YSL case.
“I don’t think the new female rappers really understand who I am,” she said. “A lot of the girls that came before me, they really were those sexual beings, and I was so inspired by them. But I’m not like that, I’m more the goofy girl. Even some of the new male rappers—I turned down a Gunna song because it was just moaning and groaning on the track, but Drake ended up doing it and it worked great for them. And free Gunna by the way, I have to make sure I say that.”
While Nicki didn’t name the track in question, she’s most likely referencing “P Power,” a song she’s talked about in the past.
For the full Nicki and Jada discussion, complete with photos by Torso, hit this link.
Mentioned in the Interview chat is that Minaj’s new album will likely be released before year’s end thanks to the response to the aforementioned “Super Freaky Girl” rollout. A release date, however, has not been publicly announced.
In the meantime, fans have been excitedly speculating about recent comments from Whoopi Goldberg, who named Nicki among the stars she’d like to see assembled for another Sister Act sequel.
“I want as many people who want to have some fun, because I really, desperately need to have some fun,” Whoopi, who also mentioned Lizzo and Keke Palmer, said on a recent episode of Charlamagne tha God’s Hell of a Week.
