Nicki Minaj Gets Candid About Her Butt Implants, The Industry During Interview With Joe Budden

Nicki Minaj sat down with Joe Budden in an hour-long interview, shining light on what we’ve all wanted to know about the star.

2008 vs 2022 Nick Minaj

Today is National Barbie Day, so it’s only right the Barb herself, Nicki Minaj, came through with an hour-long interview with podcaster Joe Budden about topics we all have wanted to know the answers to for years. 

The interview started off with Joe Budden reflecting on when the two musicians first met, back in 2008 when Nicki first stepped on the music scene. Joe Budden got right into it, asking Nicki “What would 2022 Nick tell 2008 Nicki?” Her response was as real as it comes. She said: “I wish that I would have appreciated more things, myself more, my look more, that my talent wasn’t too jaded and tainted with ridicule for other people, you know.”

Nicki went on to expose the pressure she faced with changing her looks and how she opted into getting butt injections. She said:  “People think I went to this expensive doctor, I went to this random person. I was in Atlanta at the time… a new big booty would be in the studio all the time when I was coming up with Wayne.”  She went on to say: “I don’t want to downplay those women because they played a big part in the music, being the rappers’ muses. I didn’t feel good enough compared to those girls. I thought this is how you’re supposed to look in the rap culture and I don’t look like them. Wayne and the guys would joke about me not having a big butt but they were not aware that it wasn’t funny. They didn’t know that I had that insecurity.” 

Little did Nicki know she would set the trend of wanting her curvaceous looks. Joe Budden  later called it the “female rapper starter kit.”

Nicki Minaj And The Black Culture Influence

As time went on, Nicki Minaj became one of the most influential black women within the culture.  She shared how she made sure to shine the light on other black women influencers who lacked the props they deserve within the industry. 

“You would think the biggest female rapper of all time that has set so many trends would be on the cover of American Vogue, but she hasn’t.” 

She continued, citing the white privilege that so dominates the music industry.  “When Billie Ellish comes out and sets a trend she’s immediately put on Vogue, but when a black female rapper has been setting trends for over 10 years does it, no one says anything.” 

Thankfully, because of social media and black creators having a platform to speak out, some of the barriers to getting credit have been removed. 

Now that people have been speaking up, now we’re on the covers of stuff, now we’re getting Grammys.

It takes us. Our community, when we start speaking everything changes. It doesn’t matter what they’re doing in the field , when we back each other up that’s when everything changes.

She added that “we have to be mindful of when you see a black person, say what they’ve done. We have to be mindful to not tear them down, because we’re looking at it as we’re bragging, the white people giving each other props. Why do we only look at each other like we’re bragging, you know why? We always had to dim our light down.”  

The power and influence of black culture to set trends and define mainstream culture is well known by brands and industries that exploit it for profit. Nicki made it clear this is nothing new, saying: “This has been happening since the beginning of time when black men were singing and dancing and writing music and white bands were singing their music. Those men died poor, their families died poor.”

She continued: “They want us to stfu and not speak on what we do so they don’t have to put us on covers and give us Grammys. There’s nothing wrong with owning our influence. When we don’t mention it we get erased. If you don’t let a black woman say how she influenced, somebody else will get the credit and they will continue showing no regards to black women for what we do for this culture.”

Nicki Minaj Exposing the Music Industry

Closing out the interview, Nicki took time to explain the music industry in different spectrums. She first touched on the influence of drill music. 

New York Mayor Eric Adams said he would clamp down on the genre after recent gang-related murders of drill rappers. Nicki, in her response, said, “Why is he doing that? The reason why he’s doing that is to point the finger, drill music wasn’t around in the 80’s, why did they do the D.A.R.E. campaign?  Rock & Roll has been in the front of sex, and drugs, but when you see one of the white rock stars our mind doesn’t go to drugs.  Why? It’s the image.”  

Nicki explained why she thinks hip-hop has been vilified when other genres get a pass, stating: “From the very beginning we have been treated like the bad guy blaming us for stuff from the beginning. They don’t do that to actors. We can’t help where we are from. We can’t help that we were from the hood and we had to do certain things to get money. A lot of Black people, we don’t see our power until it’s too late.”

Nicki gave us the rundown on how the industry tries its best to stay in control of the music, citing how Billboard has changed their chart eligibility rules once again for what sales do and do not count.

To me, It makes me feel like once they realize the fans have the power, or the artist has the power they do the ol’ switcheroo.

You’ve never in the history of rap hear [talk] about who has the most number 1 hits, or most Grammys. A lot of people go into it thinking that matters, but that’s not what people think about in the rap culture.  We care about the technique.

The rap mogul has paid her dues and she is taking her flowers while she is here. Nicki went on to talk about her plans for her brand within the next few years stating,  “I am creating my own management company to manage me. I’m sure we’ll manage others along the way. There are people in my life that I think are really dope at what they do, I am creating my own company as opposed to having someone manage me and get a certain percentage. I am also doing my record company, I have a couple artists I plan on starting the company with, I’ll start announcing that closer to  album time.” 

It’s safe to say, Nicki 2022 is coming with that new-new and fans are ready to see what she has in store.

Nick Minaj’s New AMP Deal

Amazon launched their latest product called AMP – a new streaming radio social media app where hosts can create and share playlists and interact with fans. Nicki will be bringing her weight to AMP with the reboot of her popular “Queen Radio” show.