Skip to main content

Nicki Minaj on Madonna, Super Bowl

Nicki Minaj called into Ryan Seacrest to talk at length about how Madonna changed her life (and her wig) and her disappointment in M.I.A.’s finger flipping at the Super Bowl…

On Madonna’s influence…

“Meeting Madonna changed my life.
Working with Madonna changed my life.
Rehearsing with Madonna for two weeks changed my life.
When you look at these amazing women, you have to realize that a lot of work goes into this. I, for the first time, refused to go to any parties. This performance was it and this is the first performance that I’m proud of in my entire career.
I saw how much Madonna sacrificed and how much she rehearses and rehearses and rehearses and rehearses, and everyone there was like, ‘We got it.’ But she was like, ‘No, I want you to know this choreography in your sleep.’ We did know it in our sleep by the time we got on the Super Bowl stage. But when I saw that, it inspired me so much, the same way Wayne inspired me to start really becoming a beast as a rapper.
The Madonna situation inspired me to give it my all and put that work in.”

On how Madonna got her to change her wig…

“Madonna was the first person in history who was able to make me change my wig.
I had some choices in terms of color and she was like, ‘Nicki…’ She has a way with words. She’s a monster, but when she’s speaking to an artist, she’s really sweet and she knows how to word things so you don’t feel uncomfortable.
She was like, ‘I don’t know about it.’
So I really went through four color changes on my wig for the Super Bowl. We got the platinum blonde and she smiled. Once she smiled, I was like, ‘Thank you Jesus.’ I couldn’t take it anymore.
She was one of the only people who could get me to wear red lipstick and when I did it, I ended up loving it, so I told her, ‘I’m so glad I trusted you. You’re amazing, you’re the queen, and everybody has to bow down.’”

On M.I.A.’s Super Bowl stunt…

“My first feeling was disappointment, only because of my respect for Madonna.
I’m a cuckoo lady too, but I would never be able to do it off the strength of Madonna.
There are fines that go into these things, and I just thought, ‘Oh my God. I hope they don’t penalize Madonna.’
Madonna knows the artist that M.I.A. is and it was her decision to take the risk with all of us. We were kinda all firecrackers and she took that risk.
She’s done some crazy things becoming the icon that she is, so I think that’s why she was able to forgive M.I.A.
I love M.I.A. and I don’t want to say anything that is the wrong thing, but me personally, I couldn’t see myself doing it, just for the respect for Madonna.
I wouldn’t want any backlash to come back on Madonna.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Making of Madonna’s First Album Cover

Carin Goldberg — the art director behind Madonna’s debut album cover — spoke to  the Cut  about her first experience with the then-unknown pop star. It’s the first question that anybody asks me, even today: What was it like to work with Madonna? People think that maybe something dramatic or interesting or kind of wild might have happened, based on, you know, Madonna’s persona. But I would say that Madonna was probably the easiest job I ever had — the most cooperation from a recording artist I think I ever had. She was a true professional, even at that young age. It was ’83, and at that point I had my own small design firm. Warner Bros. called and asked me to do her cover as a freelance designer. When I got the call, I rolled my eyes, because it was another [musician with a] one-word name. At that time it had become cliché to have a one-word name, because of Cher, so I remember thinking, God, it’s going to be one of those. So I really went into it with very little expec...

September 24 1992, Madonna baring her breasts and blowing kisses, At The Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show.

September 24 1992,   Madonna baring her breasts and blowing kisses, Billy Idol in double leather... we explore the fashion show that raised $700,000 for AIDS research Jean Paul Gaultier  is renowned for many things – his exceptional tailoring, his conical bras, his impassioned approach to sociopolitcal causes in fashion – and, on September 2, 1992, all of these elements united for a show that definitely mattered. In honour of  amFAR  (The American Foundation for AIDS Research), Gaultier held a fashion benefit whose runway included everything from lip-synching to Dr Ruth dressed in rubber to raise money for a cause that devastated (and continues to devastate) communities around the world. "Tonight will be about protection... wear rubber and protect yourself!" – Jean Paul Gaultier "Tonight will be about protection... wear rubber and protect yourself!" explained Gaultier before the show. "I think fashion can make people thin...

On July 10 1985, The Playboy magazine issue of nude Madonna photos was released !!

Playboy  publishes nude photos of  Madonna  taken before she was famous. The singer did a number of nude photo shoots from 1977-1980, starting when she was an 18-year-old student at the University of Michigan looking for some extra cash and trying to form a band. Now a huge star,  Playboy  publishes some of the shots taken in 1979 and 1980 in a revealing spread. A year earlier, the magazine turned down nude photos of Miss America winner  Vanessa Williams , which their rival  Penthouse  published. "We think Vanessa genuinely didn't know what she was doing, didn't know her photos might be published," the article states. "Madonna, on the other hand, posed repeatedly for two noted photographers who routinely publish what they shoot." One of the photographers, Lee Friedlander, says of the shoot: "She seemed very confident, a street-wise girl." Madonna has little to say on the matter, but doesn't shy away. "I'm not ashamed,...