Where do all your different voices come from?
Nicki Minaj: I have no idea. I think Wayne kind of influenced that. He has always been really carefree when he raps and I was like, "I don't have to stay in one cadence or stay in one tone when I rap—I can just do what I want."
But you've been saying in recent interviews that you might tone down the voices.
Nicki Minaj: Sometimes the shit I say is over people's heads and I feel like I need to dumb it down a bit so people can understand it. I think if I had said a lot of raps in a particular voice, people would go, "Yo, that shit was hard"—but when you change up your voice a little bit, they can't see past that. And they're lookin' at me like, "This bitch is stupid"—and I'm lookin' at them like, "No, bitch, you're stupid." [Laughs.]
So on your album and going forward, you're going to mellow out on the voices?
Nicki Minaj: I definitely made a conscious effort to tone the voices down a little bit.
The successful female rappers that have come before you each had a strong male counterpart. How do you make sure people don't say Lil Wayne is pulling the strings on your career?
Nicki Minaj: I always keep Nicki Minaj separate from Young Money. I allow Wayne to call the shots when we do group albums, but when I do other things and have other choices, I don't necessarily need everyone's go-ahead. I write my own raps, I go in the studio by myself. There are some female rappers who can't go in the studio unless they have a ghostwriter sitting right next to them. I'm the complete opposite—I'll go in and ghostwrite for someone.
It seems like Young Money as a whole doesn't get caught up in beef. Has Wayne sat you or Drake down and advised you to avoid that route?
Nicki Minaj: He's definitely told me, "Yo, leave that bullshit alone. That's for people who ain't got shit else to do." I've watched Wayne handle himself so well. I've seen people take shot after shot after shot at him and if it fazed him, I never saw it. People take shots because they're hoping for a little bit of your energy. They need fuel.
There's been a lot of speculation about your sexuality in the press. Your verse on Usher's "Lil' Freak" adds to the buzz that you're bisexual.
Nicki Minaj: When I rap, it's just an extension of how I speak, and that's how I talk. If you don't like it, don't listen. I'm also not going to explain something just because I said it in a rap. Take what you want from it. [In the press] I didn't say [I don't like women]. I said I don't have sex with women. I don't have sex with men right now either. If [bisexual is] what they wanna call me, then fine.
So right now Nicki Minaj is celibate?
Nicki Minaj: Yes, and I encourage all my young Barbies to do the same. I just don't have time.
