Nicki Minaj In Guardian Magazine

In the interview Nicki dishes on everything from her childhood and style to her name change and going against the boys.

From where did all these characters come?

“My head.” How would she describe her head? “Crazy, always going, never stops.”

Is she a fan of Roman Polanski?

She giggles, and says she had heard of him, liked the name, but no, she hadn’t seen his films. “I knew how he looked and I thought he was a weird-looking man, confused little soul. I went on Twitter and said, ‘From now on my name’s Roman’, and my blogs went crazy. My Barbs went crazy. They cried and said, Nicki don’t change your name, we don’t want to call you Roman.

Why did Maraj turn into Minaj?

Somebody changed my name. One of the first production deals I signed, the guy wanted my name to be Minaj and I fought him tooth and nail. But he convinced me. I’ve always hated it.” You sense it’s the last fight she lost.

On her first album Pink Friday she was determined not to be dirty or boastful:

I wanted to prove the point that I didn’t have to rap about it. But I feel like now, my fans speak like that, and I don’t have to walk round being a goddamned prude. And my music doesn’t need to sound like a prude unless I’m doing a pop song.” She says the word “pop” breathily, ironically.