S. Samuel
Young Money's Nicki Minaj has discussed releasing her "Roman's Revenge" single before hackers could leak it, as well as shared her enthusiasm over recording with Eminem.
Minaj also expressed how star-struck she was to be on the same record as Eminem.
“It didn’t leak, we put that out, we put it out, yeah, it didn’t leak,” Minaj told DJ Skee when asked about the record’s release. “It went up on iTunes, Halloween weekend. It’s pretty hard [to avoid hackers], but I don’t know. We are always hoping that things don’t leak but you always have to plan for the worst. I wanted to put the Eminem record out the second I heard it. Everybody that heard it was like, ‘That needs to come out now.’ … I kept saying, ‘No way would he even speak to me on the phone.’ I still really consider myself an underground rapper and he got on the phone and spoke to me with respect and really spoke to me like I was his peer. He was like, bouncing ideas off me, we were going back and forth. And actually, out of all the artists I’ve worked with, he was the most involved. He was the most involved.” (Skee TV)
Last month, Minaj revealed that Em did not initially want to appear on the first track she suggested they collaborate on.
The track had long been in the works, she revealed. Swizz Beatz produced the number, and she held onto the track for months. The Queens femcee sent Eminem another record first in hopes of soliciting a collaboration with the Detroit superstar. “We went out on a whim and put it in the air like, ‘It’d be great if he would collaborate with us,’ ” Nicki Minaj said. “I remember I kept talking about it, and I thought, ‘It can’t hurt.’ I sent him one record, and he didn’t love it. He didn’t say, ‘I don’t love it’; he just said, ‘Can you send me something that’s a little more me?’ I sent him an e-mail and thanked him for that, just having enough respect. Sometimes people don’t respond. He had the respect, at least, to treat me like a peer.” Eventually, Nicki revisited the Swizz track and completed the song. She wasn’t sure if she wanted a feature on the track, because she thought the song was so good as it stood. After thinking it over, however, she decided to reach out to Em. “He picked up the phone for that one,” she said. (MTV)
Details on their collaboration hit the Internet days prior to its online premiere.
Roman Zolanski is about to meet Slim Shady. The alter-egos of rap’s most formidable forces will go head-to-head on a track for Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday. Rap-Up.com has exclusively learned that Young Money’s First Lady and Eminem have recorded a song called “Roman’s Revenge,” which will be included on Nicki’s debut album, due November 22. Fans can expect more heavy-hitters on the highly-anticipated project, in addition to Em, who trades bars with Nicki’s colorful alter-ego Roman. During a Ustream session earlier this week, she revealed that Drake would also make an appearance on the album, calling their collaboration one of her favorites. (Rap-Up)
Following its release, rap veteran Roxanne Shante shared her reaction to the similarities between “Roman’s Revenge” and her 1980’s record, “Roxanne’s Revenge.”
“”If she named it ‘Roman’s Revenge’ after ‘Roxanne’s Revenge’, then I’m honored. Job very well done,” Shante said in an interview. “[Nicki’s] record was to prove a point, but I was never afraid to say names. Not saying that she’s afraid, but I always wanted people to know who I was talking about.” (VIBE)
Pink Friday is currently scheduled to drop Monday, November 22nd.
Listen to Nicki Minaj’s interview down below:
