I don't have to do things just to please people. It's okay to do what I love because what I love, my fans love. And they're really the only ones that should matter.
— Nicki Minaj
I'm a role model now. I didn't know I was gonna have 13-year-old fans, so I've tried to change a few things here and there. But I also know that the girls don't want me to be Miley Cyrus, either.
I've always been intrigued by color and by interesting hair. I was one of those weird little girls doing my own hair at the age of 9. I was, like, getting weird gels and new brushes and cornrow holders. I would tweak and perm at the age of 13.
I don't want a wig that looks like a wig; I want one that could pass for a weave.
If people are sitting in the barbershop talking about my butt, it's conversational. That's what people are gonna do.
One of the first production deals I signed, the guy wanted my name to be Minaj and I fought him tooth and nail. But he convinced me. I've always hated it.
Your victory is right around the corner. Never give up.
I know right now she has no idea who I am, but I'd like to collaborate with Enya one day. Of course I'd love to work with Jay-Z, maybe even Phil Collins. I love his voice.
I've gotten tons of awards and I believe when it's my time to get a Grammy, I'll get a Grammy.
I hate formal stuff. I love looking like a doll and all that stuff and playing dress up, but when I'm home, sweat pants, t-shirt. When I'm in the studio, sweat pants, t-shirt.
Lavender is the new pink. I'll never stop wearing pink but I wanted to venture out.
I don't put cash in my Louis Vuitton wallet. I have it thrown around my bag - jut a whole bunch of hundreds, maybe $5,000.
I'm just happy that 'Idol' producers gave me a shot on the show and to be able to show who I really was, because I feel like I'm every single woman.
I say nice things about Mariah all the time. I tell Mariah all the time how much of a fan I am of her. She's one of my favorite artists of all time... She's shaped a generation of singers.
Female rappers get it the hardest. You have to be a girl, yet you have to be just as hard as the guys. I think some female rappers get scared out of the business before they can make it.
Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I am like, 'This is a high-top day' or 'This is a bob day,' but when I get my clothes on that's when I see.
I hate cameras. I hate cameras and I hate camera phones. The camera's my worst enemy and my best friend. It's the way I convey my emotions to the world without saying a word, so I use it. People always say, 'You come alive as soon as the camera's on!'
It's not hard to get your way when it's your way or the highway. People either follow suit or they're not around. I don't really like the sound of that, 'cause that sounds like a temper tantrum. I'm just very black and white when it comes to my business. There's really no gray area.
I think most artists will experience a lot of negative people on Twitter but, thank God, I've got so many followers that I'm not able to see them that much. I'll see some from time to time but, for the most part, I always focus on something good.
I think sometimes the fashion world isn't even about clothes anymore; it's about this 'in' crowd, and I'm not into that.
I can't see myself without pink lipstick. I can go without it for a couple days, but if there was no more pink lipstick in the world, I'd be useless. Seriously.
I do have a few personalities. When people started making a big deal out of it, I started making names for these people.
My rule is, whatever you were calling me four years ago is what you should be calling me now, because I don't like it when my family or close friends call me Nicki Minaj. To me I'm not Nicki Minaj when I'm with them.
You should never feel afraid to become a piece of art. It's exhilarating.
My happiness doesn't come from money or fame. My happiness comes from seeing life without struggle.
I don't agree that everyone should agree with everyone's lifestyle. I think that some people aren't going to agree, but I think that when you're mean and when you ridicule people it's a sign of your own insecurities.
I think a child may be the only thing that could give me true happiness.
Like to me, I did the 'Harajuku' stuff. I did the crazy stuff. And now I kind of want to tone that back, and it's not toning my personality back, it's just showing like I don't only have to do that.
I think one of the things I was shocked about was how interested the world is in 'American Idol' and how people, writers, they write about 'Idol' all the time, and I guess I didn't expect that.
I feel like my entire career and life, I've been judged by people who did not really know me. I definitely think that they probably were right to assume what they had assumed about me, because there was such little to go on out there.
When people see my makeup, they think all types of crazy things that I'm doing to my skin, but it's makeup. It's the weirdest thing. They'll see contouring and think you had surgery on your nose. No. No. No. Look at 'RuPaul's Drag Race' and you'll see... you can make your nose look... what ever shape you want it.
When I get up in the morning and put on a pink or a green wig, I see myself as a piece of animation. It lets me be the person I want to be, a person who's not embarrassed to have fun.
My wigs are ever changing in height, width, color, size. They make me feel happy. Wearing them makes me feel like I can be a different person every day and that is kind of exciting.
I happen to be a pessimist, and maybe that's a good thing because I don't stop to smell the roses - which is not a good personal thing. I don't stop and enjoy those moments... Always on to the next and never in the moment.
Who doesn't love Enya? Whenever I'm in a trying time, she is the calm in the middle of the storm. If I put her on, I'll be in this crazy peaceful state. I love her style. And her harmonies are freaking genius.
When I was younger I didn't have much financially, like we couldn't afford a lot of stuff and I remember seeing little girls' rooms on TV and they'd all be pink. I didn't have my own room, I shared with my brother, so I would have this daydream and imagine that one day I could have my own room and it would all be pink, like Cinderella's.
You wanna know what scares people? Success. When you don't make moves and when you don't climb up the ladder, everybody loves you because you're not competition.
Everyone knows I'm a lash girl by now. When I don't have my lashes, I feel naked.
You have to know that as long as you love who you are - your morals, your values, that type of stuff - you're OK.
I vowed that I'd never allow any man to control me or to be an alcoholic or anything like that around me, because I don't want my children seeing that.
I don't mind being called a weirdo. There are a lot of people in hip-hop who are probably never going to get what I do. But, by just being myself, I end up touching a lot more people who might never have paid much attention to a female rapper.
When you're a girl, you have to be everything, You have to be dope at what you do, but you have to be super sweet, and you have to be sexy, and you have to be this and you have to be that and you have to be nice, and you have to - it's like, I can't be all of those things at once. I'm a human being.
Sometimes I want to just pull the off switch, but you can't because if you go outside, you have to give people your all. You can't say, 'Oh, you know what? I'm not feeling good today.' No. No one's trying to hear that. When a woman comes up to you and says, 'Hey, my daughter's your biggest fan. Can we have a picture?' - you can't say no.
I'm a rapper... Gaga's a fantastic artist, you know, she paved her way. She's opened her own lane. But I think that I have my own lane. And we never cross. Ever. So, you know, I really don't get the comparison anymore. Our music doesn't sound the same. Our stage presence is not the same. I just can't see the similarities.
If I'm traveling, I'll pack socks in my bag - really cute furry ones.
My best and worst 'Idol' moments? I don't have a worst 'Idol' moment... I've been spectacular. Yes, I am going to toot my own horn. And then my best moment is every single moment. I'll toot it again!
As a little girl growing up in Southside Jamaica Queens, if anyone would've told me I'd have my own perfume one day, and be able to inspire young black girls everywhere, to go into Macy's or Nordstrom's and see their face staring back at them - I wouldn't believe them.
The animated bug has bitten pop culture. It makes me feel happy and free. When you don't act seriously, you can make up your own rules.
Maybe your weird is my normal. Who's to say?
My whole life is about being Nicki Minaj now. It's a never-ending saga.
