Nicki Minaj has expressed both her undying obsession with and near crippling fear of hip-hop legend Jay-Z. Now that Minaj has conquered her fear of the iconic emcee, even jumping on the acclaimed Kanye West track “Monster” with him, the Young Money emcee is dishing on why Jay-Z is one of her all-time favorite emcees.
While overseas in the U.K., Nicki sat down with #5 Magazine, and explained to the publication how Jay-Z’s highly acclaimed lyricism has inspired her own whimsical and bizarre rapping style.
“It was like whatever Jay-Z says is the gospel. He was smart. I was always attracted to intelligent rappers. Like if you can make me think … that’s why I’m so into metaphors,” Nicki says. “I love double meanings of things. Just having people look at things in a different way because all my favorite rappers [like Lil’ Wayne] … that’s what they do [and] that’s what intrigued me.”
Besides sharing her love for Jay-Z, Minaj also explained her love for label mate Drake (“He’s really easy to talk to”) and her notable love for British accents and culture.
“It seems like out of a storybook or something. Whenever I was in school and we had to act out plays and stuff, whenever we had to wear the big gowns or corsets, we’d have to put the London accent on. Their culture is so pretty. It’s just whimsical,” says Nicki.
What do you think about Jay-Z being one of Nicki Minaj’s favorite rappers?
–nicholas robinson
