S. Samuel
Rick Ross has shared his memories on the day he became a Nicki Minaj fan and officially co-signed the Barbie's rhyming skills.
For Ross, the dawning occurred while locked in the studio with Minaj as they worked on their new “Monster” hit, which features Kanye West and Jay-Z.
“That was the day Nicki Minaj earned my respect as a lyricist,” Ross said about recording “Monster” in Hawaii with West. “Before that day, she was a great entertainer but for me, with my own two eyes, to get in the studio and see her write her verse and when I heard and watched her lay it, I knew that was going to be one of the greatest verses of this year as well as Kanye. He said it right then. That was just a big day for hip-hop…Sometimes you her rhyme and at some points it’s almost unbelievable and you can’t help but think, ‘Wow, it must have been a room full of people helping her out with that one’ even me as an artist that’s considered to be a dope emcee. But to be in the studio and for me to actually watch and actually watch her get in the booth and rock back and forth the way she do and to hear the sh*t she was saying. I tipped my hat off to her and told her right there but just to see the end result and just see everybody’s reaction…” (Rap-Up TV)
Minaj’s “Monster” lyrics also impressed West, who tweeted about them following the song’s release this month.
The following day on Twitter, West had this to say about her contribution: “can we just talk about Nicki’s verse???????!!!!!!!!! I toooooooooooooooold yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallll!!!!!!!!!!!!” She does kind of steal the show — something she’s done often enough this year, but it’s a lot harder when you’re sharing a track with Jay-Z and Kanye West than with, say, Trey Songz or Mariah Carey. “You could be the king, but watch the queen conquer,” she coolly informs the guys. “First things first, I’ll eat your brains/Then I’ma start rocking gold teeth and fangs.” From there on in, Minaj pretty blacks out, reeling off punchlines in those wacky voices her critics love to hate. The song goes on for another full minute after that, mostly so Justin Vernon can moan some more, but you can feel free to stop the track as soon as Minaj stops rapping. (Entertainment Weekly)
Recently, female rap veteran Rah Digga hit up SOHH and gave her take on Minaj.
Honestly, I think she’s doing what every female does when they come out. They get on a lot of cameos, they get a big buzz going before their album drops and I just see her as a reincarnate of artists that have come before her. I think maybe because there have been an absence of females in the limelight, it just seems like it all boils down to her.” (SOHH Guest Star)
Earlier this month, Minaj talked with radio personality DJ Drama and defended her role as an emcee following BET’s recent “My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women in Hip-Hop” broadcast.
“[I turned on the show right when they started talking about me, and I heard] ‘Yeah. they just Kim Kardashian with a mic in her hand,’…it’s funny in the black community, when you get popular, people forget that you were an underground struggling artist at one time. I saw so many of these girls saying stuff, ‘We grindin’,’…. Boo, I grinded for the past 7 years of my life and I’m not gonna feel guilty for anything I’m getting right now. They’re just uneducated about how many dues I’ve paid…..but I love that I was talked about on the show.” (Miss Info TV)
Check out Rick Ross speaking on Nicki Minaj below:
