Perhaps more than any femcee before her, Nicki Minaj‘s crossover into the mainstream has been greeted with both praise and critique. Yet following the release of new single ‘Starships’, the Young Money maven has been at the receiving end of heightened backlash from some sects for “selling out”.
Never one to hold her tongue, Lil Kim‘s arch nemesis hit back at her detractors in a new interview with Funk Master Flex.
Her words after the jump…
Via NB:
“I would hope that people know at this point that I’m smart enough to know what I’m doing. I always intended putting out something urban right after ‘Starship’ because I knew ‘Starship’ was a monster. I didn’t feel the pressure to be honest. I feel really, really good. I feel like Hip-Hop cares enough that they have something to say and I remember when I was hoping that somebody had something to say about me on the radio or cared enough. Maybe it would be a problem if I couldn’t deliver records like ‘Roman Reloaded’, but I can. Once again, I write my own lyrics so it’s never a problem. Whatever I feel … I can write and I can create it, so I’m good.
I think that people sometimes get blown away by the magnitude of the pop stuff because the pop stuff reaches every where. Then I feel like my Hip-Hop fans or Hip-Hop culture starts getting a little bit afraid that I’m going to leave but this is who I am. I’m not going to change. I’ve just added on to my brand and if you don’t understand that then it’s probably why you don’t travel, you don’t see the world and I probably can’t even have a conversation with you anymore.
[Roman Reload] is not about anyone in particular. My fans, they’re voices are the loudest voices. A critic has never meant a thing to me and that’s why I keep winning. So we’re really good on this side Flex and ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” drops April 3rd and the Barbz and Romanz Empire will be good, really good.”
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And there you have it!
In keeping it 100, we too often wonder where Ms. Minaj is steering her ship musically. However, we’ll cautiously take her word for it. Do you?
Your thoughts?
I don’t care of nicki becomes a Full blown singer I love her But Hip hop nicki is Amzing I prefer her more But Starships Is a Monster It would have been ashame if it was never released
arrogant !!!
full of herself , b**** wake up , you are fading !! only TGJ support you !
believe her own s*** , she think her songwriting is legendary ?1 😆
messy , the f*** she did in the grammys 😡 😡 😥 😥
fake ” starting with her body to her own life” !!
LIAR ! b**** you are a sell-out and a stupid h** !!
music industry’s artifact !!
where’s missy eliott to clean the house and take this drag queen-lookin trash outside the house ?:x
No this b.tch didn’t just say that song wasn’t about anyone in particular? Yeah right, I guess all of the other 20 plus diss track wasn’t about kim either? FOH liar
She need to disappear !!!
LUV ME SOME NICKI.. HATERS SOOOOOO MAD RIGHT NOW BWAHAHAHAHHA. WATCH HOW ALL THE NICKI HATERS SEE A NICKI HEADLINE AND BREAK THEIR NECKS TO TUNE IN TO SEE WHAT THE QUEEN HAS TO SAY. #UnderCoverFans
“A critic has never meant a thing to me and that’s why I keep winning” ….. YESSSSSS NICKI BODY SLAMMING THE HATERS LEFT AND RIGHT. PF:ROMAN RELOADED 04/03.. LEGGO
F*** the b**** never was impress about her lame ass style
@THOMAS
YET YOU STILL TUNED IN… ALL UP IN THE NICKI ARTICLES. GTFOH. #UnderCoverFans
@POp a rihanna stan calling someone “Arrogant” go help your fav before she gets her ass beaten again
YESS, U TELL’EM NICKI !!
tbh, I was scared she would leave hip-hop 4 good, but Im glad she won’t coz that’s the Nicki I love!!
But her pop songs are good too.
#TeamNicki4Life.
Her arrogance really annoys me. @POP ROYALTY is right, Nicki’s too full of herself. No matter how much hype, money and fanbase you have, you should still remain humble. And the thing about travelling the world sounds like b******* to me. She’s not doing ethnic or alternative music, ‘Starships’ is POP. What does travelling have to do with POP?
Just do what u wanna do, Nicki.
Gimmicky Minaj is a modern day minstrel show and just because you have some class doesn’t make you a hater. This chick think she is Lady Gaga but deep below all the image Lady Gaga actually has a great voice and talent.
One thing i know about music, like Ice Cube said “they’ll find a new n**** next week”. Most of these artist are flavor of the week, it happen to Nelly, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Lil Jon, 50 Cent,etc and it will happen to Nicki too.
Preach it!
Nicki do your thing, if one wants to have longevity, there’s a way to do it and she shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Let’s be frank here, yes music is a passion but it’s also a means of livelihood. why she should she stick to hoodrat mixtape anthems when she knows she’s capable of so much more. When the urban community stops talking and actually start investing in their favs.
“I’ve just added on to my brand and if you don’t understand that then it’s probably why you don’t travel, you don’t see the world and I probably can’t even have a conversation with you anymore.”
And that says it all right there. I love music from a lot of culture’s and half the things considered ‘shocking’ in America is very typical everywhere else. I always found it interesting how there’s a fear to be different and prefer their acts stay stagnant, ignorant, never changing in a bubble of ignorance.
People call it arrogance but really…she’s saying what she’s proven true. I have never heard Nicki say or do anything that has not come true. She talks big, she accomplishes big things. She sets her goals high and she let’s you know where she’s aiming. The little surprises along the way are icing on the cake.
On a different side note Pop Royalty you really come off crazy the way you just hurl insults, sounding like Nicki pissed in your mouth. Btw, you back to being a Rihanna Stan?
I’m sorry, but when u change urself to gain “white” audiences or pop fans and do it the way she’s done it, that is selling out. Missy had stayed true to herself, n she got a deal with the gap along side Madonna, she crossed over staying Missy, makin those true hip hop songs, etc. Nicki is doing the type of music that is hot right now. It may be smart, but at what point is being smart not just selling out and loading ur identity just to make money? A true cross over act gains fans by being themselves. Jay z NEVER did a pop song besides a bey:riri song n never worn s costume or tried too hard to be some1 he’s not but lil Wayne on the other hand, makes songs with any1 just to get his music out there, dresses like a skater, TRIES to skate board n it all comes out forced.
@sleazy :
as if Nicki herself didn’t got beaten herself ! and she got back to her abuser like a lost puppy and denied the whole thing desperately 😆 😆
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04EEv4QK_nU
Look what he did to my face 😆 😆 😆
B**** STFU for your safety 😉 , but enjoy the above video 😉
😈 😆
@Those :
clearly , yes , i’m back !! my choice and no one should care so much about it.
but all i said about this maraj was true. she’s just a fake arrogant b**** to me who think she’s the s***. guess what , she ain’t !!
did u saw her talking about traveling ?b**** you ain’t madonna , your music is lower than basic. i can’t with this level of delusional of hers. i just can’t !! 😡
and what brand ? changing wig brand ?! getting famous for your fake ass brand ? stay making stupid songs about ppl who accomplished more than you brand ?
she is delusional and need to wake up !! if ppl consider her Hip-hop , then rihanna is jazz 😆
Seriously I’m getting tired of ppl claiming this is the pop of yester years n that everybody has a cross over song so why pick on me temper tantrum. Pop music of yesterday more times than none had a meaning to it, had a message to it other than get drunk, have s**, n dance ur life away. Heck, dance/electro/pop use to have messages and good stories better than the stuff we hear today. So spare me ur monologues of being diverse n creative cause if u had u wouldn’t come up with such wack music just to fit in. If she n anybody else was doing something revolutionary she would come out with better songs that sounded like she gave a damn instead of the lazily, half written-just to-get-by songs that we keep hearing on the radio.
Nicki stay winning.
Let me translate what she’s saying into the words of lady sovergin
“love me or hate me it’s still an obsession
Love me or hate me that is the question
If you live me than thank you
If you hate me than F*** YOU :D”
And it probably ain’t for just Kim in particular…it could be for keys, Lil mama, diamond or even the media..
Whether you like Nicki or not, there is no denying that she’s a smart girl who knows exactly what she’s doing, she’s seen how femcees in the past did it and the mistakes they made, & made the adjustments she needed. If Nicki stuck to the same stuff she was doing back 5 yrs ago and never bothered to grow, try new things or expand her brand, she would be in the same position as all the other female rappers right now. Nicki makes great hip hop records and she makes great pop records, it would be incredibly basic of her to stick to solely hip hop just to make the hip hop community feel comfortable. She’s not selling out, she’s having an open mind & stepping out of the box. If you can’t understand that, then that just shows how incredibly simple & closed your own mind is.
Y’all stay sayin you’re done with Nicki, yet y’all tune in to EVERYTHING she does.
#HiHater =)
Nicki Is #Pressed Trying To Cover Up Being A Sell-Out By Talking About Traveling ?! #Death Girl Bye !
whitney houston said it best!! to have longevity in the industry you eventually have to make the switch to pop!!
@pop
Hey bruh where u been? I luh u. Dont stray
I’m with @pop and @ASAP she is really getting beside her self. Its okay to be confided but to be talking like you are on Bey or Rihanna’s level of fame is just ridiclous. And if she wasn’t worried bout critics then why even call in and talk all that s***.
Lady Sovereign, that took it back. I used to love that song, and yes that translation worked perfectly.
Reality is most white singers/rappers make more money than black singers/rappers, male rappers make more money than their female counterparts and it’s no longer ’95. The advent of Hip Hop and R ‘n’ B being at the forefront of music has passed. When TLC struggles with a comeback you need to open your eyes, when Mya can’t make a hit single you need to face facts and when Missy is being FEATURED on a song by the white girl who broke MJ’s record we need to get real.
Nicki found a way to get in Vogue (white upperclass readers), on Ellen (white middle-class viewers), and in the mouths of teenage country singers (young middle-class buyers) while still making music like Stupid H** and Roman Reloaded and being a presence on black television programs. These days if you can’t adapt and make yourself multi-functional you will not make it.
The 90’s are gone and with illegal downloads on the net and album leaks guaranteed you need to up your game.
That was the mos b******* excuse ever! Like Pop Royalty said, what traveling is she doing?? Shes just making a pop record to sell albums. Thats called selling out. I would be one thing if she did country or some form of alternative rock, I could see that as branching out. But when you branch out into the latest flavor of pop music its called selling out.
@Pop
I don’t really care, I wouldn’t have even known you had beef with Rihanna if not for all the posts you did raging. It’s just funny to see her as your avatar.
Also I imagine you know what brand, these days it’s like take hourlong. The Barbie Doll, the two MAC lipsticks, the OPI nail polish etc.
I always understand folks that don’t like her music bur I’ll never get folks who deny actual facts. She does indeed have a brand.
if she mind a critics opinion she would have never bothered to say any of this. shes a sell out plain and simple. it worked for her on PF, but I dont think the new album will have the same success.
@Those That Cannot Do, Stan
having a Barbie designed after you doesnt really make you a brand. Mattel recently designed one after Katy Perry, but I dont think shes earning a profit. your not a brand until you have your own stuff. your own label, fashion line, fragruence line, etc.
She’s a sellout no matter what way she wants to dance around the topic. And that traveling statement made absolutely no sense lol. She hasn’t spit a hot verse since monster anyway.
I think Nicki is a sell out but I think she wants to please her urban audience.She is sensitive about that aspect.
Why Nicki?
The bloggers slamed Bey for selling out to pop with IASF,yet she released 4 and where they at? Rihanna has been a sell out since day one,copying everybody under the sun,her fans have nothing to say.The black audience support rihanna foolery and sell out tendencies as well.
From a Bey ex-fan,Dont LISTEN TO THIS BLACK AUDIENCE NICKI.your instinct brought tyou those far,keep on the good work and dont become a has been like Beyonce.
You did your thing at the grammy,you performed at the superbowl,etc …dont listen to those mtfs who are quick to call you out while supporting their fave who’s been a sell out since day one.
When she said ” I’ve just added on to my brand and if you don’t understand that then it’s probably why you don’t travel, you don’t see the world and I probably can’t even have a conversation with you anymore.” She not being cocky or bragging about travelling, She’s not saying you have to spend lots of money & travel to be on her level. She simply saying that people are inspired by new environments. Your neighborhood or community is not the world, it’s one tiny fraction of it & if you stay in the same place your entire life (be it mentally or physically) & don’t bother to explore the rest of the world & don’t open your mind to different thing, you can’t grow. Expecting her to stay the same as she was when she was in NY rapping on a step, would be ignorant of you & fraudulent of her. She’s been outside of Queens, New York & has been exposed to & inspired by different cultures, different people, different environments & has incorporated some of that into who she is. That’s not being fake, that’s living life. If you are a person who is simply unwilling step out of the little box your mind lives in and see the world in it’s entirety then you wouldn’t understand why she trying new things, and it would be pointless of her to try & explain it to you. That’s not arrogant, that’s just honest.
KAT DELUNA FAN Co-Sign even though you said other stuff that i don’t agree with in the past,but you have some solid points in this comment so i have to Co-Sign you,but as they bin running around saying nicki minaj didn’t win a grammy and she isn’t on beyonce are Riri level she mustn’t talk for her right she must turn the other cheek,so they feel they can jump on here because she is touchable and Riri and beyonce and others is untouchable,but it,s all good because as long as the rest of nicki fans are like me and nicki still is working hard then she will be around for a long time,and if there is a way for her to win a grammy are other awards i believe she will fin it,anyways like i always say keep doing your thing nicki minaj keep building little by little.
I don’t think that Nicki Minaj is in the same category with “The Greats” in any genre but what she’s doing is getting her by for now so more power to her.
PREACH NICKI SHE SAID THAT!!!
TK Co-Sign,i bin saying what you said for a min now.
@LTM
In the business world brand has two associations. In one it can mean a product under direct ownership or control of you. In the second it can mean a product in association with your name/reputation.
I could not create a product and call it ‘Nicki Mknaj’ or ‘Pink Friday’ anything because that is a brand associated with Nicki. People contact her for use of her name in exchange for some splitting of profit because they know things associated with her name will sell. MAC could have just launched a pink lipstick and called it a day but they knew Nicki was popular, called her, she went over color swatches, helped design and a pink lipstick called “Pink Friday” sold out within hours of it being released online.
I’ve shopped MAC, seen the ‘popular’ shades and nothing sold out quite as fast as her lipstick did with only online promotion. That is a brand.
Yall calling Nicki a sellout because she trys to reach out to the masses but if you think about it, it makes sense for her to do both. Why would she only stick to urban when her urban don’t sell like her pop…I.E billboards hot 100 #3 Super Bass… #5 Turn Me On …#9 Starships…..Now which one of her urban songs has done that well? NONE…because yall cryin and ain’t buyin. KEEP GETTIN YOUR WORLDWIDE FANS NICKI. IF POP IS WHERE THE FANS ARE THEN POP IT SHOULD BE….POP, ROCK, RAP, COUNTRY ETC..ETC.. DO YOU BEW!!
you can cross over with out forgetting about her roots. loads of rappers have done it, missy, jay-z, nas, biggie, pac, dmx, and many more have all did it and stayed true to hiphop.
TELL EM’ MY B**** IS NOT PLAYING ..
To all you b****** cryin sayin Nicki’s a sellout, guess what?! I hope she sellout all over the world. CHA CHING!!…. most of you mofo’s on here talking s*** are “alledgedly” not even Nicki fans anyway so why did you even click the link? *side eye’s* all of you so called haters. Last time I checked, If you’re not a fan you don’t give 2 shits about what they do. Kudo’s to Nicki, she set out to get your attention and thats exactly what she did…Keep the hate coming… tell a friend to tell a friend to hate Nicki cus if yall stop then Nicki fails. hehe… Nicki gwerl you betta POP all the way to the bank on these haters cus they don’t buy your urban s*** anyway. Everybody on this page commenting love’s Nicki in their own little way no matter what she does. OWN IT!!
she’s standing there with blonde hair, contacts, and a get-up that screams sell out, i dont know grape juice readers, if it looks like a duck…………..
“GREG
February 26, 2012 at 7:08 pm
she’s standing there with blonde hair, contacts, and a get-up that screams sell out, i dont know grape juice readers, if it looks like a duck…………..”
Nicki your time is up… #SIT