News: Nicki Minaj Talks Drake vs Meek and More with The NY Times

The New York Times featured Nicki Minaj in an article titled The Passion of Nicki Minaj by Vanessa Grigoriadis. In the story, Nicki talks about the beef between Meek Mill and Drake and also spoke about her brand and working on her image. The interview took a slight turn when the interviewer asked her is she thrives on drama. To read the full story, head over to The New York Times.

Then I asked about the dramatic goings-on at her label: Wayne is suing Birdman for $51 million for withholding fees, and Wayne’s tour bus was riddled with bullets in Georgia earlier this year. A federal indictment claims that individuals connected to another Cash Money rapper, Young Thug, may be responsible.

This was not the game Minaj was here to play — interviews in the social-media era are about being adored, not interrogated. It was getting dark outside when I asked about Drake, Meek, Wayne and Williams. Minaj hadn’t turned on lights, so she was in shadow. ‘They’re men, grown-ass men,’ she said. ‘It’s between them.’ How does it make you feel, I ask? ‘I hate it,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t make me feel good. You don’t ever want to choose sides between people you love. It’s ridiculous. I just want it to be over.’

‘Is there a part of you that thrives on drama, or is it no, just pain and unpleasantness.’

The room went quiet, but only for an instant.

‘That’s disrespectful,’ Minaj said, drawing herself up in the chair. ‘Why would a grown-ass woman thrive off drama?’

‘What do the four men you just named have to do with me thriving off drama?’ she asked. ‘Why would you even say that? That’s so peculiar. Four grown-ass men are having issues between themselves, and you’re asking me do I thrive off drama?’

She pointed my way, her extended arm all I could see other than the diamonds glinting in her ears. This wasn’t over yet. ‘That’s the typical thing that women do. What did you putting me down right there do for you?’ she asked. ‘Women blame women for things that have nothing to do with them. I really want to know why — as a matter of fact, I don’t. Can we move on, do you have anything else to ask?’ she continued. ‘To put down a woman for something that men do, as if they’re children and I’m responsible, has nothing to do with you asking stupid questions, because you know that’s not just a stupid question. That’s a premeditated thing you just did.’ She called me ‘rude’ and ‘a troublemaker,’ said ‘Do not speak to me like I’m stupid or beneath you in any way’ and, at last, declared, ‘I don’t care to speak to you anymore.’

As soon as I said the words, I wished I could dissolve them on my tongue. In pop-culture idiom, ‘drama’ is the province of Real Housewives with nothing better to do than stick their noses where they don’t belong. I was more interested in a different kind of drama — the kind worthy of an HBO series, in which your labelmate is releasing endless dis tracks against your boyfriend and your mentor is suing your label president for a king’s ransom. But the phrase I used was offensive, and even as I tried to apologize, I only made matters worse.