Nicki Minaj – If you’ve followed hip-hop for a while, then you might’ve noticed that something happens to certain rappers as they get older.
Some of them start to regret a few things from their younger years, whether it be a certain lyric delivered, an opinion given or just the image they created for themselves.
Nicki Minaj seems to be one of those people, because in an interview with ELLE, the 35-year-old said she feels partially responsible for making a lot of women promote sex these days, like on Instagram for example.
Minaj also said that some of those women just don’t sell a sexy image, they sell actual sex, which was something she never wanted to advocate.
“I love being sexy; I’m never gonna stop being an exhibitionist,” she explained. “I don’t really know how to say that without being offensive … Maybe I was naïve, but I didn’t realize how many girls were modern-day prostitutes. Whether you’re a stripper, or whether you’re an Instagram girl, these girls are so beautiful and they have so much to offer.”
“But I started finding out that you give them a couple thousand dollars, and you can have sex with them,” added Nicki. “I was like, Yikes. It’s just sad that they don’t know their worth. It makes me sad as a woman, and it makes me sad that maybe I’ve contributed to that in some way.”
The reporter who interviewed Minaj described how she spoke slowly and chose her words carefully on the topic of women, sex and commerce because she didn’t want to slut-shame anyone or sound judgmental.
But some might say the rapper also watched her words because one could call her a hypocrite since she admitted to selling sex and benefiting from it.
Even the rap name “Minaj,” short for ménage à trois, screams sex, and in the past she often talked about hating the moniker because of what it represented. Nicki’s real name is Onika Tanya Maraj.
Plus, she’s taken a few pages out of the Lil’ Kim rap book of success by using sex to possibly get the attention of those close-minded male listeners, who may otherwise be indifferent to a female rapper’s music.
Songs like “Anaconda,” “Slumber Party” and the Lil Wayne-assisted “High School” are just some of the songs where Minaj spits some over the top, sexually charged lyrics. So it’ll be interesting to see how people respond to her comments about some of today’s women promoting sex. Will they applaud her for saying she had a role in it or accuse her of being self-righteous?
Regardless, Minaj said it was never her intention to make people think she was easy or promiscuous. Instead, the rapper wanted to create an image that said men couldn’t easily approach her because of her status and who she is.
“I just don’t know if girls who look up to me think that when I’m posting a sexy picture [that] I’m actually the antithesis of all of that,” she explained. “I’m more of, like, the snobby girl. Like the ‘Uh, what?’ type of girl, and I want girls to be like that. I’d rather you be called snobby or a bitch or conceited. I’d rather you be called that than easy and a ho and a slut.”
Additionally, the Young Money artist said because she continues to sell sex and hasn’t changed her approach, she won’t come down on young women who choose to do the same.
“In a lot of ways, I don’t know if I’m doing the same thing they’re doing, because I’m selling sex appeal, so I can’t look down on these girls,” said Minaj. “I may not be having sex with people, but I’m still selling sex appeal.”
