Last week, it was announced that hip-hop’s most animated vixen, Nicki Minaj, would be flexing her zany vocal skills in the upcoming kid flick, Ice Age: Continental Drift, alongside actors Queen Latifah, Aziz Ansari, John Leguizamo and her Young Money pal, Drake. In her latest interview with MTV News, the eccentric rap queen dishes on how she landed a role in the animated 3-D comedy.
“I don’t know how much I can talk about that, but it came about that when my agency sent me out on an audition for some people who wanted to hear me,” recalled Minaj in her trademark British accent during a New Jersey stop of the “Femme Fatale Tour.” “They knew I liked animation, they knew I liked to do voices, and so they said they were doing that so I thought, ‘This is amazing.'”
Despite Minaj’s star power, the Pink Friday rapper said that she almost didn’t make it into the film, but was unexpectedly able to sway the producers to create an entirely new role for her.
“The original role that I was up for I didn’t get,” she explained. “So I said, ‘Oh, OK, whatever.’ I was really mad, and the next thing you know, they called me and they said, ‘We wrote in a part just for you ’cause we really want you to be a part of this movie.'”
Although Minaj still remains tight-lipped about the specifics of her role, she explains that she recorded multiple voices for the film, leaving the producers to decide which of her kooky voices they liked best.
“And I just was screaming and so excited, and I went in and I had a blast. I did it as two different voices,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Ice Age: Continental Drift hits theaters on July 13, 2012, but should we be presenting the edgy rapper to our kids? Her place in pop culture is a given, but should her antics, both lyrically and in life make her off-limits for children’s fare? Leave a comment. –nicholas robinson
