Nicki Minaj
In a short span of less than two years, Nicki Minaj has had eight Billboard Top 20 hits, sold out concerts, and collaborated with Eminem, Britney Spears, and Madonna — but that’s not enough. The eccentric rapper-singer says she wants to turn her success into a full-fledged brand, just like her male counterparts.
“I never thought about music as just being the end-all, be-all,” she tells Allure. “I always looked at it like a business, something that I could create an empire out of.
I had a little conversation with Jay-Z at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. He said, ‘Congratulations on all your success.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m coming for you. I’m coming for your spot, M. Mogul.’”
Minaj, 29, already has a leg up on Jay-Z — she has a wide-ranging fan base, which includes young children. Case in point: her biggest little fans Sophia Grace Brownlee and her cousin Rosie, who wowed the world with their now-viral video of them performing her hit, Super Bass.
The two have gone on to become regulars on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and have even interviewed celebs on the red carpet at the Grammys for the programme. Of her underage fans, Minaj explains, “I think as far as the younger demogrpahic is concerned, I play dress-up.
I also can put on a very cartoonish voice. So sometimes children may not know what I’m saying, but they like the sound of it, and they think I sound like some weird character.”