With “Anaconda” officially out, Nicki Minaj kicked off the radio promo by calling into Hot 97′s “Morning Show” and KIIS FM’s “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” to discuss her Sir Mix-a-Lot-sampled song and her “Flawless”collaboration with Beyoncé.
“After I got proper medical help and started breathing again, I was like, ‘What?’” said Nicki when she first heard that Beyoncé wanted her on the remix.
She once again stated that she is open to collaborating with Remy Ma, who was released from prison last week.
As for the racy “Anaconda” artwork, it was her idea to release it. Her manager was hesitant, but she wanted to push the envelope like her idol Madonna.
Plus, find out which is her favorite “Anaconda” meme and why bigger is better.
On the “Flawless (Remix)”: “I think a month or two ago, [my manager] Gee [Roberson] called me when I was on my way to Vegas and he said, ‘Beyoncé wants you to remix ‘Flawless.’ And after I got proper medical help and started breathing again, I was like, ‘What?’ And she sent me a version that she wanted. She told me that I want you to be you, I don’t want you to hold back. I said, ‘You sure?’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, I want you to just be you and do you.’ I was actually in New York writing the verse. I recorded the verse in New York and she stopped by the studio and she was such a sweetheart. She was hyping me up like, ‘Do your thing. Don’t hold back. Go in.’ And I said, ‘OK. All right.’ We’ve just been waiting for her to drop it. She told me that she would drop itsometime while she was in the middle of the tour. I wrote the verse before she even went on tour. And that’s basically how that happened and we’ve just been going back and forth. I’ve been sending her pictures of myself and we’ve been going back and forth about the mixes and the single art and now here youhave it.”
On why it took so long: “When I was putting out mixtapes and stuff, I would always remix her stuff. I have a dope remix that my fans have always been in love with to one of her songs ‘Sweet Dreams’ me and [Lil] Wayne did, but I figured that eventually we would do something together. I’m not gonna lie, recently I thought it would never happen ’cause I felt like if she was gonna ask me, she woulda been asked me. I think the stars just aligned the right way. I think we’re just in the right places in our career that it makes sense now. I feel like with the release of her last album, her records are kinda geared to what I do now.”
On collaborating with Remy Ma: “I told you guys before Remy even came home, I said I would love to. I was a fan of hers before she went to jail and nothing has changed. I’ve always felt like she was at the top of her game and in relation to all the MCs in the game I always felt like she was sitting there at the top. We’ll see. I’m not crossing that off. I feel like we’ll get the right thing and we’ll do it for the people. It’s open up in the air.”
On her favorite “Anaconda” meme: “I saw Kermit the Frog posing yesterday, I was like, ‘No, they didn’t.’ And of course Marge Simpson and they were putting me on famous artwork.”
On being a size queen: “I don’t have a lot of people to compare it to. But with whatever I’ve experienced, yeah, I think that’s a dope thing to have.”
On the “Anaconda” artwork: “We were on the set of the video and I was taking pictures while I was shooting the video. I took a whole bunch of photos and then I asked my photographer, ‘Hey, can you show me a couple?’ And for some strange reason that particular picture just stood out to me. And I asked my manager Gee, ‘Should I put this picture out?’ I never saw him act like that, he was like, ‘Uhh, I don’t know. I have to think about that one.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ I didn’t understand it ’cause he’s usually laid back. And because he didn’t want me to put it out, I put it out. He was thinking that it may be too over the top and I said, ‘In the beginning of my career, I tookpictures like that, I did photo shoots like that and I don’t wanna lose that sense of who I am.’ I feel like one of the people who I looked up to the most was Madonna and she’s never stopped pushing the envelope. She’s never stopped taking risks and I don’t want to ever stop doing that either.”
