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JT of the City Girls sat down for a candid chat with Nicki Minaj to discuss the Grammy-nominated star’s decade-long music career. The interview was conducted in honor of Minaj’s new “royalty” cover story for i-D Magazine.
During their conversation, JT confessed that she felt sad when Nicki began venturing into the pop realm following the release of her chart-breaking hits “Super Bass” and “Starships.”
JT said she was heartbroken when Minaj ventured into the pop world
“I thought I knew her, but I did not,” JT said, recalling the first time she heard Nicki’s music.
“I was a delusional little girl who had this love/hate relationship in my mind with Nicki Minaj,” the Miami native continued on, noting how she was drawn to the New York femcee’s strong lyricism in some of the early mixtapes that helped propel her stardom.
“I knew how to rap always, and Nicki knew too. I was so deep in the gutter when Nicki first started. She was the round-the-way girl. She did the ‘Jump Off’ remix, and I was like, ‘She’s so pretty, she’s so hood.’ A couple of years later, you went into your more pop era.”
The 28-year-old rapper continued:
“It was a heartbreak moment for a hood girl. It was like, ‘Damn Nicki, you left us.’ Then you came back with your straight hair and your sexy look, and I was like, ‘Okay, so she still f**k with us.’ If you were to ever look down my tweets, there would always be good tweets and bad tweets. That was the disconnection.”
Super Bass wasn’t supposed to be a hit, according to Nicki Minaj
Minaj acknowledged the musical shift, noting how “Super Bass” in particular “wasn’t even supposed to be a single.”
“It became huge. Rather than going back to point A, I thought, ‘I now need something to be a continuation of ‘Super Bass.’” And so I put out ‘Starships,'” the 39-year-old star explained. “That’s when people in the Hip-Hop community really felt, ‘Oh my God, we lost her,’” Minaj admitted, before praising JT for bringing up the elephant in the room.
“No one in my life or career has ever explained what you just explained to me that way. You articulated that so well that I was finally able to understand the disconnect and some of the heartbreak that my really hood fans must’ve felt seeing me come from The Come Up DVD and mixtapes and Pink Friday to doing “Starships” and “Pound the Alarm,” the mother of one added.
JT empathized with the rapper, noting that now, as an artist herself, she could see why some big names in the industry have shifted their careers to the genre. She also admitted that she and other rising female rappers have essentially followed Minaj’s “pink print” to success.
“When you do a pop song you get a different type of respect, and that’s when a band gets bigger. Now there are more female rappers and that’s literally what we do,” JT said before Minaj chimed in:
“They’re all doing it now. By the way, not only are they all doing it now, not one has been criticized.”
Nicki Minaj’s long-awaited fifth album is on the way, she also has a new nail design company
Later in the interview, Minaj hinted that she would be dropping her long-awaited fifth album sometime in the near future.
When asked about her future plans, the “Super Freaky Girl” rapper replied: “The fifth album. I’m not gonna say when it’s gonna come out, but the album will be out soon.”
The news comes as a sigh of relief for fans, who have been patiently waiting for new music since the release of 2018’s Queen.
In addition to new music, Minaj also teased her new nail design company.
“I am working on a nail design company, where people will be able to buy my press-on nail with dope designs,” she said. “I was already working on that before someone auctioned my press-on nail for $50,000 or whatever they spent on it.”
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