The no-nonsense rapper charted her own course to the top. Now she's sharing her take-charge secrets with you.
How did Nicki Minaj go from brash young singer and wearer of over-the-top cotton candy wigs to the most-charted female rapper in the history of the Billboard Hot 100? The Trinidad-born, Queens, New York-raised artist operates in one mode: unapologetic woman in charge. Her fierce confidence has, over the years, earned her the respect of Lil Wayne, who helped her land a record deal with Young Money Entertainment, and, no big deal, four American Music Awards, six Grammy nods, and some big-name endorsement deals (MAC, OPI, Pepsi). She also turned heads at New York Fashion Week with her new pared-back look (which, in the spirit of full disclosure, we love). Now in the middle of a world tour in support of her third studio album, The Pinkprint, Minaj has her sights set even higher: "I want to be a mogul," she says.
A mogul? That's signature Minaj motivation. Who doesn't want to have a little of what she's having? Listen in on her personal Dos & Don'ts.
DO have a clear vision for what you want to do.
"I wanted to take my time with [my new album] and show people I was capable of making something people could really relate to. Jay Z has always been a role model because he inspires people [to believe] they can go from selling drugs to being one of the most celebrated businessmen of our time. That's what I want to do for young girls, to say, 'It doesn't matter where you started in your life. You too can become a mogul and anything you want to be.'"
DON'T dress for anyone but yourself.
"I like looking more toned down now. I haven't been doing it for other people; I've been doing it for myself. I do think when people see you [looking more] toned back, they take you more seriously. But women should do what makes them happiest and strongest. I wore my colorful wigs to meetings with millionaires and people I'd looked up to forever. I was a businesswoman closing humongous deals even when I had pink hair."
DO ignore labels.
"I used to be so, so hurt by the way women are labeled as bitches—it would just make me angry. I would work around powerful men all day, every day, and their attitudes were horrible, but a man just gets a pass. He gets The Man Pass! The Donald Trumps and Kanye Wests and Lil Waynes can have a bad day, they can be cocky and disrespectful and arrogant, and at the end of the day we laugh at it. With a woman it's always like, 'Excuse me, how dare you?' But I've always been a 'Where there's a will, there's a way' kind of person. I know I'm as great as the great men in hip-hop, in terms of being an MC. And I think, secretly, they all know! Your overall confidence has to come from within."
DO the work your way.
"We don't have a lot of women who have a huge voice in hip-hop, so the odds that a man in hip-hop will sit down and listen to The Pinkprint in its entirety are not in my favor. You just have to do your work, and someday, hopefully, you will get the credit you deserve. And if I don't, I have a lot of inner peace with my own work, because I know that I pushed myself and this album came out just the way I wanted it to."
DO marry your job—at least temporarily.
"It's important that at some point in your life you really focus on your career, almost to the point of insanity. You'll never get this time back. You have to want it so bad that you wake up in the morning and you think about it, live it, breathe it, eat it, and see it all day. After you've accomplished a couple of things, then take a moment. Work and work for those first years, and then come out of the matrix a little bit and take a freaking vacation."
DON'T obsess over perfection.
"When I was recording [my song] 'Chi-Raq,' I went into the recording booth and I just did it in this really low, monotone voice, my chains making noise on the mike. I was just laying it down as a reference. Then I went back in and tried to make it perfect. And you know what? I went back to the original take. Give yourself some room to make a mistake and have fun. The less pressure I put on myself, the more I leave myself open for magical moments."
DO ignore bad advice.
"I always knew that I loved singing and writing melodies. If someone had told me, 'Don't do that on your rap album,' and if I didn't sing on my albums, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. Always ask: What are this person's motives? It's up to you to know who you are so that you can put all [the advice you get] together, sleep on it, and make a decision that you're going to stand by. It's better to fail having followed your heart than to fail based on someone's empty advice. Say 'thank you' and keep moving."
As told to Patrik Sandberg
