Nicki Minaj Talks Motherhood and More For ‘Interview’ With Jada Pinkett Smith

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Nicki Minaj is a legend and a superstar. She is also a mother and by some recent accounts a bully to the many female rappers who have come in her wake. She sat down with Red Table Talk host, Jada Pinkett Smith for Interview Magazine to talk about these issues and more. 

The “Super Freaky Girl” rapper shared that she had delayed returning to work after the birth of her son with husband Kenneth Petty. The baby was born in September 2020 and she said that she experienced “real bad separation anxiety.” 

Nicki Minaj notes that a lot of that anxiety derived from her own childhood when her mother left her with relatives in Trinidad to pursue job opportunities in the United States. “So I’m reliving all of those things now because I’m afraid that my son will ever feel that I left him for anything, for any reason, and for any amount of time.”

She adds, “I’m so happy that god allowed me to experience this. I’ve always loved children and I’ve always been great with children, but in the last few years I started thinking, I know it’s going to be a huge shift for me because I’m used to going wherever I want, whenever I want, and I knew having a baby was going to change all that. But I absolutely love it.”

Nicki also talked about being misunderstood as a sexually empowered female rap star. “I don’t think the new female rappers really understand who I am,” she said. “A lot of the girls that came before me, they really were those sexual beings, and I was so inspired by them. But I’m not like that, I’m more the goofy girl. Even some of the new male rappers—I turned down a Gunna song because it was just moaning and groaning on the track, but Drake ended up doing it and it worked great for them. And free Gunna by the way, I have to make sure I say that.”

Per Complex, she seems to be referencing Gunna’s single “P Power.” 

Nicki also gave her opinion about current rap, saying, “But can I tell you the truth, Jada? What I’m seeing now is that so many new artists are trying to become the person they looked up to instead of giving us a new flavor! And it’s irking the crap out of me! I know I could see so much talent in some of the new artists, females, males, whatever. But they lose me when I’m seeing the person who they are trying to be like or sound like more than I’m seeing who they are.” 

Founded by Andy Warhol in 1969, Interview Magazine pairs creative people together for a one-on-one discussion. 

Nicki reveals in the lengthy interview that when approached with the opportunity, she requested Jada to interview her. “And so I told my publicist, I said, ‘She’s not going to do it. I don’t think they should ask her.’ But thank god they did, and yes, this was a great conversation because it felt like I was talking to a big sister, which I always wanted—somebody that understands, that lived this stuff and is living it now, that could help me.” 

For much of the interview, Nicki Minaj emphasizes the importance of artists supporting their loved ones, but also saving their money, but she also seemed optimistic and reflective, at one point saying. “I want to tell people out there, no matter how long you might have had a particular dream, look at what happened to me right now. Please have faith in yourself. Believe that anything is possible. Just be optimistic and have gratitude in life.”