Rapper/pop artist Nicki Minaj is riding high in her career as tours with mega pop artist Britney Spears. Nicki Minaj blasted on the scene with help of hip hop artist Lil Wayne as part of his Young Money crew. But Nicki’s appeal crossed boundaries when both Disney star Selena Gomez and country singer Taylor Swift singing “Super Bass” landed on Youtube. Nicki further cemented her new audience when she was signed as the opening performer on Britney Spears’ Femme Fatale tour. Nicki spoke with LA Times about the different fanbases and potentially headlining her own tour.
Lil Wayne and Britney Spears have very different fanbases, and your music sort of treads the line between both. What did you think about jumping on Spears’ tour?
Well, initially, what I thought was I hope this audience will appreciate what I do. What I first dealt with was a bit of the unknown. Is this something that Britney’s crowd will even enjoy? But it all went away the first night. I stood in the transporter, that big prop that we have on the stage, and I could not believe the crowd reaction before they even saw me. It was very emotional for me. I was so shocked. I thought, OK, on the Wayne tour, this is my audience, everyone that knows Wayne, they know Nicki Minaj. When I heard those screams, it was one of the best feelings in the world. It changed overnight. I’m pleasantly surprised with the people coming out on this show; they generally are coming out not to critique, but to have fun. The hip-hop community tends to be more critical. On this stage, I felt a little bit more free.
People are anticipating your solo tour. What are you going to take from both the Wayne and Britney tours that you can incorporate into your solo headlining tour, which is set to kick off next year?
Let me just say I’m going to take from Britney and Wayne, because they’re both veterans. Being completely honest I’ve learned so much from them, in terms of production. Britney’s production is so amazing. When I sat out there the first night to watch it, I felt like I was a kid at an amusement park. It was so much, the lights, the content and the props. Whereas Wayne, he teaches me how to command a crowd. His comfort level and how he makes people feel like he’s their best friend when he’s onstage. He has that command. If you can put both of those two things into a show, you can really do an amazing show – that’s my goal. Am I gonna be able to do these humongous venues within the next year? Probably not. But am I gonna put on an amazing show and give everyone something that’s gonna be well worth what they paid? Absolutely yes.
Watch Nicki Minaj perform “Super Bass” on Femme Fatale tour from what appears to be a phone camera.
http://youtu.be/R3VKB4lMdL0
