Nicki Minaj x Vogue Forces in Fashion (1)
Pt.1
Barbz, assemble! Nicki Minaj served as a highly-anticipated guest speaker at Vogue’s Forces of Fashion event in New York City today. The star sat down with Eva Chen, the vice president of fashion at Meta, to discuss everything from motherhood and fashion—to recently breaking records with her “Pink Friday 2 World Tour,” the highest-selling female rap tour ever. (Watch it on the Vogue app here.)
Minaj joined a star-studded lineup of speakers including makeup legend Pat McGrath and designers Victoria Beckham, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Simon Porte Jacquemus, among others. But there’s only one queen of rap! So below, see all of the highlights from Minaj’s Forces of Fashion talk.
On originally wanting to be an actor
I was very disappointed that I didn’t become a big, huge famous actress within two years of graduating high school. I told everybody in my school, by the time I’m 19, I’m going to be the new Halle [Berry] and Jada [Pinkett Smith]. I was obsessed with them. But I realized that when you want to be an actor, you have to get up really early in the morning, and go on these things called casting calls. I was like, I don’t want to do all of this. It takes a lot of commitment. That’s why when I meet actors, I always pull them aside. I did that to Margot Robbie when we were at the Barbie premiere. I was like, “I’m really proud of you, because I know how much this takes to be an actress, and to be doing these huge leading roles.”
On her earliest jobs
I would always get fired. One of the big [times] was as a waitress at Red Lobster. People would come in and they wouldn’t leave a tip, and that’s rude. One day, this lady came in with her boyfriend, and they needed my pen to sign the credit card slip. I went back to the table, and not only did they not leave me a tip, but they took my pen! That set me off for some reason. I ran outside into the parking lot, and caught them just as they were turning out. I banged on their window and said “give me my pen!,” and I banged on their window hard enough to break it. Then they told on me and I got fired.
On shouting out Vogue’s Anna Wintour in “Muny”
In that song, I was like, “Hey Anna—I'm gonna need that cover, baby girl.” That’s what I said to the queen! I remember being in the studio cracking up laughing—I definitely thought she would never hear it. I didn’t think anybody was going to buy my first album, and it ended up breaking huge records.
On having the highest-selling female rap tour
I feel very grateful. I have a very close knit relationship with my fans, and they went very hard for me. Their emotion and passion always does something to me. I wasn’t expecting to have the highest anything, to be honest—I didn’t even know that I was in the running. But even if I didn’t have that, I would still be so grateful, because the time that I’ve spent with the Barbz at these shows has been healing for me. They said it was healing for them and their inner child, but it was healing for something within me as well.
On the power of the Barbz
Before l had a record deal, my fans were making a moment for themselves on Twitter. I had already given them a name. At the time, there were no rappers naming their fans. Justin Bieber had the Beliebers, and Lady Gaga had the Little Monsters. Now, every single artist gives their fans a name. But it doesn’t matter, because the Barbz are still superior. They are different because what they do, they do it with passion and love. Sometimes people do things, and it’s rooted in revenge or vengeance, and that doesn’t really go anywhere. It doesn't take off. But the Barbz and I really love each other.
South Africa