Nicki Minaj is everywhere you turn these days,  from the TV set on “American Idol,” to E! news exclusives on AI drama, and now the June/July cover of Teen Vogue.

Despite covering a mag geared toward teens and tweens, the Queen Barbz actually talked about some heavy stuff in her interview, including why she can’t be bothered playing childish games with grow arse women (we’re gonna guess that means Mariah Carey). Check out snippets from the Q&A:

On industry drama

People treat this business like it’s high school. It can absolutely feel like one big popularity contest, and you know what? I can’t be bothered. I can’t allow myself to play ridiculous games with grown adults in the industry. I can’t be nice to someone just because they’re hot right now. I can’t do it.

On being affected by her parent’s dysfunction 

Every time my parents fought, my mother would have us move and I would have to go to a new school, which meant I’d have to face the task of making new friends. I dreaded it. I had butterflies in my stomach each time: Are people going to like or hate me? … Sometimes there’d be a fight, sometimes not. I let people know I wasn’t going to be pushed around.

On dealing with people’s negative opinions of her

“My journey to who I am today began on MySpace. I love getting real opinions from people.”

“I used to read the bad things people said about me, then I asked myself, ‘Why am I reading that when I have millions of people saying great things?’ You cannot give negativity power. I tell teens, if you’re having a problem, there’s nothing wrong with deleting your social media. If people keep taunting you and you keep reading it, it’s poison.

We definitely believe the industry is like high school, but in the same way you shouldn’t be nice to someone just because they’re hot, Nicki should also remember you can’t be rude to someone just because they ask you something you don’t like. She seems to be forgetting she has quite a few mean girl tendencies herself.

What do you think about her interview? Check out a few more photos from her spread on the next pages.

Source: cnn.com

When you think of chess players, you think of social outcasts, the nerds, the smart kids that are, for the most part, ignored by the popular kids. But the stereotypes don’t apply at Brooklyn middle school I.S. 318. The kids in the chess club are the popular kids. Because they win. Consistently. Though 65 percent of I.S. 318′s students are living below poverty, their chess team has won more national chess championships than any other school in the nation. 30 to be exact.

And Rochelle Ballantyne, who was a student at I.S. 318 four years ago, is on her way to becoming the first female, African American chess master. Four years ago her journey, and that of her fellow classmates, was featured in a new documentary called Brooklyn Castle. 

Ballantyne recently spoke to Teen Vogue about taking part in the film, why it was important for her to become a chess master and what lessons she wants audiences to take from the film.

On how she started playing chess

“My grandmother taught me to play when I was in the third grade. I was really active as a child, and she wanted to find a way to keep me relaxed and get my brain going.”

Whether the documentary causes additional pressure when she’s playing

“With the documentary coming out, the pressure is going to increase. It’s a bittersweet feeling to be a girl and one of the top players. To maintain that number one spot and excel in other aspects of life besides chess puts a lot of pressure on me. But I don’t want to reach the mark of becoming the first female African-American chess master for other people; I want to reach it for my grandmother and me.”

How does playing chess impact your academic life?

“Chess makes me think. It helps me in school, and it can really help in the college applications. It motivates me and makes me push myself harder.”

Her future goals

“I really want to go to the University of Pennsylvania or Stanford. I applied through QuestBridge, which is a scholarship program that has a partnership with those schools.”

What’s pushing her to become a chess master

“My grandmother. When I first started playing, she introduced to me the idea of being the first African-American female chess master. I didn’t think about it much because for me it seemed like an impossible feat, and I didn’t think it could happen. I wasn’t as focused and dedicated as I am now. I didn’t think I was a good chess player—people told me I was, but it wasn’t my mentality at that moment. But then after she died, that really affected me, because she was the one person that always had confidence in me. She never pushed me, and she always respected me for who I was. I have to reach that goal for her.”

Rochelle will compete in the 2012 World Youth Chess Championship in Maribor, Slovenia from November 7-19.

We’re wishing Rochelle and the students at her alma mater the best of luck in the upcoming competitions.

Check out the trailer for the documentary Brooklyn Castle, featuring Rochelle below.

Source: WENN

Conde Nast gets two points for diversity. Just a couple of week’s ago, we learned that the publishing company had named its first black Editor-in-Chief in the form of Keija Minor who is taking over the reigns at Bride. Now the publisher has named Elaine Welteroth Teen Vogue’s new Beauty & Health Director. Can we say yay black girls?!

Fashionista.com pointed out what a big deal it is to have African American women visibly moving up the masthead at Conde, which is hopefully indicative of a trend that will take hold across the publishing industry at large. And the site spoke with Elaine to get her take on just how major her new appointment is.

“The Brides announcement has been really inspiring for a lot of people, including me,” she said. “I’m so thrilled for Keija! I think the goal should always be to find the right person for the job, and skin color should never be a barrier to that. We live in a multi-cultural world, so embracing diversity is important in every industry. As it related to publishing, I think magazines really benefit from having a staff with a range of different perspectives and cultural references so that any reader can feel like there is someone on the masthead they can relate to, someone they can trust to speak up for them. It’s great to see that idea being embraced more and more.”

Elaine also had a very insightful response on why she chose to take such a high-profile position.

“It’s all about preparation meeting the opportunity at the right time,” she told Fashionista. “I couldn’t step into this role with the confidence I have if I hadn’t been the intern slugging away or the editor who had to pull a ton of late nights. My mentor always said: “work like you’re making millions, even if you’re making pennies.” It’s worth it when you love it. And I had the chance to learn from some really talented people who have taught me a lot. So, this next step is sort of the culmination of a lot of work, great mentorship, and perfect timing. It’s an incredible opportunity, so saying yes was a no-brainer.”

According to The Huffington Post, Elaine will officially take on her new title October 15, after finishing up in her current position as Senior Beauty Editor at Glamour. Before that she was the Beauty and Style editor at EBONY. We’re super excited to see what Elaine has up her sleeve and even more stoked to see this black girl rocking on a large level. Congrats!

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Lauryn Hill may have shunned the spotlight, leaving many of her fans craving for a new LP, but she hasn’t stopped her daughter from pursuing her dreams of fame and fortune as a model. Last March, Selah Marley, daughter of Lauryn and Rohan, made her debut in Teen Vogue and she’s already started off the new year with a new set of prints.

The 12-year-old looks gorgeous as she switches from serious poses to more playful, youthful looks, proving you can still be striking without being oversexed. With a mother like Lauryn, I’m sure Selah’s modeling career will be kept in check—making sure she’s always age appropriate.

If, by chance, modeling doesn’t work out, Selah can always fall back on one of her many other talents like playing basketball and doing ballet and gymnastics, or playing violin, piano, or guitar. She might also give signing a try—if mama Lauryn approves. Selah told Teen Vogue, when she asked her mom about launching a singing career she told her, “Let me hear your stuff and I’ll think about it.”

“People tell me I have to follow in the footsteps of my mom and grandfather, but it’s a lot of pressure,” Selah said. “I can’t really slip up and mess up the name.”

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Is it just me, or is it that ever since Solange cut her hair off she has been stepping her fashion game up? Maybe it’s just me, because depending on who you ask, the girl could be dressing uber-fab, or dressing uber-tacky. I for one, have been very impressed with her looks over the year, and the ‘fits she’s rocked this week have been colorful and cool takes on fall pieces. Question is, well both questions are: Do you love them or loathe them? And which do you like better from head to shoe game?

On Sunday, while attending Teen Vogue‘s Young Hollywood Party in Los Angeles, Solange donned a yellow miniskirt that seemed to have jacquard print, and rocked it with a sleeveless button up that opened up to show a little boobage. On top of that, homegirl threw on some sick red heels, some chunky rings for her accessories, and a fun afro wig for a very playful look. For LA weather, this is perfect and very youthful.

DJ Solange, as Wire Image likes to call her, also hit up an event for the launch of the Burberry Body perfume in Beverly Hills. While other DJs would come laid back and chilled out, Solange came in the joint like the life of the party in head to toe Burberry. She paired a burnt orange and brown button up with a fun blue skirt for a mismatched but so right cocktail look. On her feet were Burberry’s newest Resort collection heels for 2012: some beaded stilettos that kept her looking high and mighty. Love that she continues to keep the jewelry minimal, because this time she did a small bangle and circular necklace. No big afro wig this time around! She went for her own natural fro and rocked it out!

To be honest, it’s hard for me to choose which one I like better. But if I had to wear one, the Burberry joint would be my pick! Not only because I’m mesmerized by this mix of color that works surprisingly well, but also because, it’s too damn cold in NYC for that other outfit (wink). But which do you prefer?

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Look at little Miss Selah Marley! The 12 year old daughter of Rohan Marley and Lauryn Hill will appear in the April issue of Teen Vogue.

The young one, who served as a contributing editor for the issue, told Teen Vogue that she loves singing and would one day like to be signed to a record deal.  That doesn’t seem too far fetched with legendary musical geniuses in her blood line.

Check out more details on Selah over at Black Voices.