It’s Nicki Minaj mania. She’s graced the covers of GQ, V Magazine and Billboard three weeks in a row, while gearing up for her third studio LP, The Pinkprint. The first lady of YMCMB adds to that growing list, covering Complex Magazine where she switches up styles and introduces her intimate side. In her feature, Minaj talks having children, her first single off The Pinkprint and addressing guilt on the new album.
Here are five things we learned about Nicki Minaj in Complex Magazine’s December 2014/January 2015 issue.
Photo Credit: Vijat Mohindra/Complex
On “Pills N Potions”:
“‘Pills N Potions’ isn’t just about relationships. A couple of my girlfriends I hadn’t spoken to in a while reached out to me after they heard ‘Pills N Potions.’ That struck such a chord with people. The message—we still love [each other] but we’re angry—we feel that way all the time, we just don’t say it. And a lot of times you don’t even get over that, you just have to keep it moving.”
Nicki Minaj Talks Pregnancy:
“After the fifth [album], I’ll probably have my baby. I wonder if I’m going to be one of those women who balances my child with a career. I always said, ‘When I have my baby, it’s going to be all about my baby.’ I don’t want the child feeling like they don’t have all of my attention, so I always said, ‘I’m going to take a little break.’ But we’ll see… If I’m done with my fifth album and I don’t have a child by then, no matter how much money I have, I would be disappointed, as a woman, because I feel like I was put here to be a mother.”
On this album being her most personal one yet and addressing guilt:
“When you’re working and you’re busy and you’re successful, no matter what, something suffers, whether it’s your relationship with your mother, your relationship with your whole family, not being able to go to your brother’s graduation…. Certain things suffer and take the back burner, not because they’re on the back burner in your heart but because the world just moves so quickly. A lot of people, when they’re chasing their dreams, they have to leave people they love. A lot of artists feel that guilt but they don’t express it.”
On worrying about loss of privacy:
“I worry to an extent. It doesn’t keep me up at night but I would be lying if I said that privacy isn’t important to me. I’ve always been like that. I give so much; I don’t curb myself in my music and I try my best to be straightforward when I do interviews. So, I do worry. What if I didn’t have something sacred? What if I wasn’t able to keep my secrets? How would that make me feel? I’ve always prided myself on not talking about certain things, holding certain things dear to my heart and leaving them just for me.”
On being proud of herself:
“One rule is “no more self-judgment.” I’m not judging myself; I’m not dissing what I do. I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’m proud of what I’m working on. I’ve accomplished something and I’m not going to be ashamed to be happy about what I’ve done. I’m talking about things that I didn’t speak about on other albums. It’s a truthful body of work. The album is me doing a press conference, addressing things and not putting too much [emphasis] on “This has to be lyrical,” to the point where I lose focus of a message. It’s important as a woman to be vulnerable and be strong at the same time. The album is a dope balance of vulnerability and strength, of inspiration and of not being politically correct.”
Check out the rest of the interview over at Complex.