Both Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne are readying new albums for a 2014 release, and whether or not they'll make appearances on one another's projects, their presence will be felt on both. In a new interview with DJ Semtex, Nicki Minaj spoke of her relationship with Lil Wayne, detailing how the rapper has motivated her, his influence on her music, and their chemistry on record.
She also talked about the abundance of remixes for her "Chi-Raq" single with Lil Herb, and the blueprint she intends to lay with her new album.
Read some excerpts from the interview below.
On The Pink Print:
I feel like this album will be a blueprint for female rappers to come. That alone should tell you how confident I am about the music. Eventually, I'll just be called a rapper, I guess.
On "Chi-Raq":
I contacted Lil Herb from Chicago. He had a record out that was doing that flow that he's doing on the hook. I was feeling the flow that he did on that song. I knew the shit was hot. I didn't really expect that many... A lot of people remade that song. Like people did videos to that song. We don't even have a video to that, and I had the original version.
On Wayne's contributions to the album:
I sent him something that he liked. I didn't hear his verse yet. My connection with Wayne is so deep that I don't have to be on his album, and he doesn't have to be on my album for him to always play a role as a mentor in my life.
On Wayne's motivation:
One of the biggest motivators in my career was just watching Wayne's work ethic when I first came in the game. I would see him go so hard, and do so many features, and so many mixtapes, and do so many albums. Whether he and I are on a song or not, we always have this insane connection that I can't explain.
On her chemistry with Wayne:
You gotta play that "Sweet Dreams" Beyonce freestyle, you gotta play when me and Wayne did "Go Hard". People need to be reminded that that has not been done since. There has never been a male-female duo like... we were like animated superheroes. When we were doing that, it was not being done, and it has not been done since.