Hustle-Harder :: Nicki Minaj, “I’d rather people be intimidated than be too comfortable”

For VIBE Magazine’s newest issue, 29 year old Nicki Minaj (real name Onika Tanya Maraj) gave us the answers to some of the questions we’ve had for her, lately. In the interview, she talks about the criticism that she’s become a pop artist, about her upcoming album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” (due out April 3rd), about her relationship with Drake, and about how assertive she has to be to get her way. Peep the quotes.

On criticism about being her album being too pop:

“Now my time for proving things to my critics is over. I don’t really need to prove anything to anyone else anymore. I’m very happy I made that choice.”

On her upcoming album:

“I’m writing 10 times quicker than I wrote on the first album because I’m a lot more confident in who I am. We’ve just been trying to pace things so that the album comes out at the right time. The music is pretty much done, but we may hold the album back a bit so that things are done perfectly as opposed to being rushed, in terms of promotion.”

On Drake:

“All I know is that Drake is extremely talented and he’s very smart. I don’t think people realize how intelligent he is, so some things are… It’s fun. Some things are hip-hop, and that’s what it is. If he does have a target on his back it’s because he’s extremely successful and he makes music people can relate to. I really don’t think Drake has changed musically. Take Care is a continuation of Thank Me Later. I don’t really feel that it’s a leap. His core fans are getting what they love from Drake.”

On the beauty advice she and Drake give each other:

“I told him recently to go back to his clean-cut look. I always tell him what I think girls are going to like. We have a couple laughs about it and keep it moving. In terms of image, whenever I wear my black hair, he’s so happy. He’s like, “Yo, that’s how I want you to look.” We have more in depth conversations about the business, but those are confidential.”

On how she gets what she wants:

“It’s not hard to get your way when it’s your way or the highway. People either follow suit or they’re not around. I don’t really like the sound of that, ‘cause that sounds like a temper tantrum. I’m just very black and white when it comes to my business. There’s really no gray area. I really don’t have a lot of small talk with people I work with. It’s pretty much let’s get the job done. In the beginning, if people didn’t know me they’d probably assume I wasn’t smart or wasn’t business savvy. But once you sit and talk to me, it’s a different story. I would say that people are cautious of the way they come at me. I’m just about my business. So when I meet people, it doesn’t matter how big of a celebrity they are, I maintain who I am. I maintain respect for myself. So I very rarely come across anyone who disrespects me, because I respect myself. I don’t go around acting in a way that people would ever get it twisted with me. If that means they’re intimidated by me, then so be it. I’d rather people be intimidated than be too comfortable.”

-@Kami2Kute
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