Jay Z’s The Blueprint inspired the title The Pinkprint and the idea of laying the blueprint for female rappers to come. What similarities do you see between you right now and Jay circa The Blueprint?
I can’t. I have no idea what he was doing before The Blueprint dropped. It’s not that literal. People keep asking me about Jay’s The Blueprint and they think I’m doing something like that. I made reference to The Blueprint because Jay is the biggest rapper of our time. The name of the album was inspired by Jay but not the body of work. I do think that it’s going to create new rules, though, in [the way] that [The Blueprint did].
You’re on Twitter all the time. Do you read what blogs write about you?
I’m not on blogs, so I didn’t know. People see me retweet stuff and they think I’m some Internet person but I’m not. A lot of times, with the controversy surrounding “Lookin’ Ass,” for example, I didn’t know anything about it until it was so late it would’ve been crazy for me to address it. Every now and then, people in my circle will say, “Did you know blah blah blah?” People on my team know I don’t want to hear any drama. I don’t want any negativity. I don’t want to hear what’s on the blog. I don’t care.
Do you not care? Or are you pretending not to care?
I don’t care. I used to care, now I don’t care.
What made you stop caring?
The only thing I ever cared about was people questioning [my rapping], because I know that I’m as authentic as they come when it comes to being a freaking MC. My first year in the game, I actually lost sleep over rumors, and then I realized, “What? This is entertainment.” These people will write anything about you to get attention and when you’re successful and famous, they know that when they say your name, people are going to click on the story. Now, to be completely honest, I don’t care. Sometimes if I hear something completely outrageous I’ll laugh, but no, the only thing I care about is my peace of mind, my well-being, my home, my family, the people I love, and the fact that I’m continuing to be successful in my industry. Everything else comes with the territory. You just have to get in on the joke, that’s what I realized.
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