After flaunting her goods for V magazine and showing off the (deluxe) artwork for The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj graces the front page of Billboard.
In the cover story, YMCMB’s princess speaks on how involved she is with her career, appearing on American Idol, “Anaconda,” and of course The Pinkprint.
Minaj doesn’t only measure herself against, or take inspiration from, other women. She’s a leading voice in male-dominated hip-hop. And The Pinkprint — the title of which nods to JAY Z’s The Blueprint– will likely have an outsized impact as hip-hop fans search for releases to rally around in a fallow year for the genre. “I’m not mad at where hip-hop’s at,” she says. “It’s in a more playful place.” Still, she continues, “it’s corny when rappers feel like they’ve made it and they don’t have to prove themselves anymore. You should always be competing. You should always be trying to show that you’re the best. My album is going to be important to hip-hop.”
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