Nicki Minaj Addresses Selling Out By Making Pop Songs

by STEVEN J. HOROWITZ

Nicki Minaj explains that she's just adding on to her brand and isn't turning her back on her Hip Hop roots.

Nicki Minaj created a stir with the release of her past few records, most recently confusing her Hip Hop fan base with the pop-friendly "Starships. " During an interview with Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex, the Young Money rapstress explained that she hopes people know that she's smart enough to calculate each move.

"I would hope that people know at this point that I'm smart enough to know what I'm doing all the time. But I guess they still kind of waiver. I always intended on putting out something urban after 'Starships,' because I knew 'Starships' was a monster. I didn't feel the pressure. To be honest, I feel really, really good. I feel that Hip Hop cares enough that they have something to say. I remember when I was hoping that someone had something to say about me on the radio, or cared enough."

Nicki, who also premiered her Lil Wayne-assisted cut "Roman Reloaded,"  said that the pop songs have more reach than her urban songs and that she's not going to apologize for making music for the masses.

"Maybe it would be a problem if I couldn't deliver records like 'Roman Reloaded,' but I can. I write my own lyrics. Once again, I write my own lyrics. So it's never a problem. Whatever I feel, I can write, I can create it. So I'm good. I think people sometimes get blown away by the magnitude of the pop stuff, because the pop stuff, it reaches everywhere and then I feel like my Hip Hop fans or Hip Hop culture starts getting a little bit afraid that I'm going to leave. But this is who I am. I'm not going to change - I'm just adding on to my brand. And if you don't understand that, then it's probably why you don't travel and you don't see the world and I probably can't even have a conversation with you anymore."