Not long ago, we reported on a long-form interview that Nicki Minaj gave, during which she asserted that she was responsible for helping to make female rappers relevant to a larger audience again. "My role in hip-hop has been super unique because when my first album came out, there had been so much time where there wasn't a female rap album out that went platinum," she said. "There wasn't a big female rap presence right before I got in. So, my role was reintroducing the female rapper to pop culture." She later passed around some of the accolades, but says that she was still in the right place at the right time. "I don't think we got that much credit. I think female rappers have always been dope and influential, but I think I sort of came in at a time where big business was paying attention, so I was able to capitalize off of a lot of deals and business ventures," she continued.
It's definitely hard to argue the point, especially after she passed the legendary Aretha Franklin and became the woman with the most Hot 100 singles ever. However, some fans were quick to take Minaj, 34, down a few notches for her comments. Today, the rapper responded via Instagram to those who she claims have "remixed her words."
"I see ppl remixing my words so let me post 'exactly' what I said," she wrote in the caption to the relevant video excerpt of the interview in question. "Imagine me saying I made female rappers mainstream when there were so many women who already had platinum albums under their belts. 🙃 Lauryn sold 10 million off one album, Eve had platinum singles w/Alicia, Gwen Stefani, her own tv show & clothing line. It doesn't get more mainstream/pop than Missy's biggest singles." She continued to specify that, while she didn't invent the "mainstream female rapper," she did end what can be perceived as a bit of a dry spell, at least in her mind. "When I came out, there had been a drought of a few years where NO female rap album had gone platinum, females weren't getting budgets, the industry did NOT believe in the female rapper anymore. They had stopped generating MONEY for labels. Ask any rap historian or just anyone with a brain. These are facts and nothing but the facts."
Check out the full report on the initial interview here.
