Do we have an award show problem?
Earlier this week, Nicki Minaj spoke out against the Recording Academy for moving her hit "Super Freaky Girl" out of the Grammy's rap category and placing it into a pop one. While her social media posts sparked headlines, the 39-year-old rapper made it clear that she would still attend music's biggest night if she received a nomination.
"Yeah, why not? I'm not a coward," she said in an exclusive interview with E! News' Justin Sylvester. "I feel like I am in a really good space and therefore, why not? Why not put on a beautiful dress and cover my big boobs and show off my big old butt. Why not go and flaunt it?"
But what about Nicki's recent Instagram Stories that suggested she wasn't happy with the Recording Academy? According to the artist, the social media posts weren't as serious as some may think.
"I think sometimes people think that I'm more ‘angry' than I am," she said. "I could be heated about something right now or this second and five minutes from now, I'll forget about what I just spoke about."
At the same time, Nicki isn't afraid to speak her truth and pound the alarm when it comes to her experience in the music industry.
"I put in a lot of work," she said. "I own the right to speak on my own workplace, my own culture. I owned it. You know why? I sit down myself. I put together my own music. I write my own songs. I sit there with every mix of the song, the master. I am so much more into music than just a few raps or lines on the song."
Nicki went on to describe music as "my passion" and so much more than just a few rap verses.
"If I were to be officially nominated, of course I'll come by," she said. "Why wouldn't I? I would come to cheer on the other people that are nominated. There are a lot of artists that I would love to see win Grammys for the first time next year."
And for the record, Nicki says she isn't the only artist to speak out about her experience in the music industry. But according to the "Do We Have A Problem?" singer, her words tend to make more headlines than other performers.
"It's become anything Nicki Minaj says is so taboo," Nicki said. "They changed the rules for Nicki Minaj all the time. They seem to forget how many rappers have beef with each other, how many rappers have called out."
Before 2023 Grammy nominations are officially announced on Nov. 15, Nicki said she is recording "amazing music." She's also appearing in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II commercial. It's another opportunity Nicki is grateful to have as she continues to take advantage of her spot in the hip hop community.
"I'm very humbled," she said. "Even though I speak up on myself, because as a woman, I just feel like you have to. I don't want that to get misconstrued with being cocky or arrogant. I've seen so many people believe they're being taken advantage of or people have tried to do it to me and I just got tired of that at one point in my life. And I vowed that I wouldn't be one of those women."
"People might think that when I'm speaking on something, I might be sounding like I'm angry or this is a huge deal or whatever," she added. "It is a major deal because this is my workplace. And we should, as human beings, have the right to speak up if we think something in our workplace is unfair."