Nicki Minaj Quotations

I don't mind being called a weirdo. There are a lot of people in hip-hop who are probably never going to get what I do. But, by just being myself, I end up touching a lot more people who might never have paid much attention to a female rapper.

I happen to be a pessimist, and maybe that's a good thing because I don't stop to smell the roses - which is not a good personal thing. I don't stop and enjoy those moments... Always on to the next and never in the moment.

I don't want a wig that looks like a wig; I want one that could pass for a weave.

I'm a role model now. I didn't know I was gonna have 13-year-old fans, so I've tried to change a few things here and there. But I also know that the girls don't want me to be Miley Cyrus, either.

My goal the whole time has been for people to see me as a stand-alone artist. I came out with Young Money, the biggest hip-hop label in the world at the time. And then it was, 'How do I branch away from Lil Wayne?'

Maybe your weird is my normal. Who's to say?

When I was younger I didn't have much financially, like we couldn't afford a lot of stuff and I remember seeing little girls' rooms on TV and they'd all be pink. I didn't have my own room, I shared with my brother, so I would have this daydream and imagine that one day I could have my own room and it would all be pink, like Cinderella's.

I want people - especially young girls - to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You've got to have something else to go with that.

I can rap in a London accent, make weird faces, wear spandex, wigs, and black lipstick. I can be more creative than the average male rapper.

But, by just being myself, I end up touching a lot more people who might never have paid much attention to a female rapper.

It's not hard to get your way when it's your way or the highway. People either follow suit or they're not around. I don't really like the sound of that, 'cause that sounds like a temper tantrum. I'm just very black and white when it comes to my business. There's really no gray area.

When you're a girl, you have to be everything, You have to be dope at what you do, but you have to be super sweet, and you have to be sexy, and you have to be this and you have to be that and you have to be nice, and you have to - it's like, I can't be all of those things at once. I'm a human being.

You should never feel afraid to become a piece of art. It's exhilarating.

If I'm traveling, I'll pack socks in my bag - really cute furry ones.

So, my happiness doesn't come from money or fame. My happiness comes from seeing life without struggle.

My happiness doesn't come from money or fame. My happiness comes from seeing life without struggle.

I don't agree that everyone should agree with everyone's lifestyle. I think that some people aren't going to agree, but I think that when you're mean and when you ridicule people it's a sign of your own insecurities.

My advice to women in general- Even if you're doing a nine-to-five job, treat yourself like a boss. Not arrogant, but be sure of what you want - and don't allow people to run anything for you without your knowledge.

I hate cameras. I hate cameras and I hate camera phones. The camera's my worst enemy and my best friend. It's the way I convey my emotions to the world without saying a word, so I use it. People always say, 'You come alive as soon as the camera's on!'

I do have a few personalities. When people started making a big deal out of it, I started making names for these people.

I can't see myself without pink lipstick. I can go without it for a couple days, but if there was no more pink lipstick in the world, I'd be useless. Seriously.

I've constantly tried new things, even as a child, and have always been obsessed with pink. Now I'm just a little more ladylike and fearless. You should never feel afraid to become a piece of art. It's exhilarating.

You wanna know what scares people? Success. When you don't make moves and when you don't climb up the ladder, everybody loves you because you're not competition.

Your victory is right around the corner. Never give up.

You have to know that as long as you love who you are - your morals, your values, that type of stuff - you're OK.

When people see my makeup, they think all types of crazy things that I'm doing to my skin, but it's makeup. It's the weirdest thing. They'll see contouring and think you had surgery on your nose. No. No. No. Look at 'RuPaul's Drag Race' and you'll see... you can make your nose look... what ever shape you want it.

I say nice things about Mariah all the time. I tell Mariah all the time how much of a fan I am of her. She's one of my favorite artists of all time... She's shaped a generation of singers.

I've always been intrigued by color and by interesting hair. I was one of those weird little girls doing my own hair at the age of 9. I was, like, getting weird gels and new brushes and cornrow holders. I would tweak and perm at the age of 13.

As a little girl growing up in Southside Jamaica Queens, if anyone would've told me I'd have my own perfume one day, and be able to inspire young black girls everywhere, to go into Macy's or Nordstrom's and see their face staring back at them - I wouldn't believe them.

My wigs are ever changing in height, width, color, size. They make me feel happy. Wearing them makes me feel like I can be a different person every day and that is kind of exciting.

I've always been the type of person to make everybody happy and get things done. I want everything to be 100% perfect.

When I get up in the morning and put on a pink or a green wig, I see myself as a piece of animation. It lets me be the person I want to be, a person who's not embarrassed to have fun.

I hate formal stuff. I love looking like a doll and all that stuff and playing dress up, but when I'm home, sweat pants, t-shirt. When I'm in the studio, sweat pants, t-shirt.

I feel like my entire career and life, I've been judged by people who did not really know me. I definitely think that they probably were right to assume what they had assumed about me, because there was such little to go on out there.

I don't want children cursing. I'm very strict on my nieces and my little brother. They have to listen to clean versions of music. Even my music.

I think a child may be the only thing that could give me true happiness.

Everyone knows I'm a lash girl by now. When I don't have my lashes, I feel naked.

I went through a lot of bullying early on. Girls made my life a living hell. We had come to America from a different country. My brother and I had accents. It was very tough.

I think sometimes the fashion world isn't even about clothes anymore; it's about this 'in' crowd, and I'm not into that.

I think most artists will experience a lot of negative people on Twitter but, thank God, I've got so many followers that I'm not able to see them that much. I'll see some from time to time but, for the most part, I always focus on something good.

I don't have to do things just to please people. It's okay to do what I love because what I love, my fans love. And they're really the only ones that should matter.

Like to me, I did the 'Harajuku' stuff. I did the crazy stuff. And now I kind of want to tone that back, and it's not toning my personality back, it's just showing like I don't only have to do that.

My rule is, whatever you were calling me four years ago is what you should be calling me now, because I don't like it when my family or close friends call me Nicki Minaj. To me I'm not Nicki Minaj when I'm with them.

People always want to talk about who I was, but I've always been singing, always been experimenting with pop music.

Sometimes I want to just pull the off switch, but you can't because if you go outside, you have to give people your all. You can't say, 'Oh, you know what? I'm not feeling good today.' No. No one's trying to hear that. When a woman comes up to you and says, 'Hey, my daughter's your biggest fan. Can we have a picture?' - you can't say no.

My whole life is about being Nicki Minaj now. It's a never-ending saga.

I know right now she has no idea who I am, but I'd like to collaborate with Enya one day. Of course I'd love to work with Jay-Z, maybe even Phil Collins. I love his voice.

I think one of the things I was shocked about was how interested the world is in 'American Idol' and how people, writers, they write about 'Idol' all the time, and I guess I didn't expect that.

I cannot hold a grudge against Mariah Carey. What people don't understand is that I've looked up to her for so many years.

I vowed that I'd never allow any man to control me or to be an alcoholic or anything like that around me, because I don't want my children seeing that.

I don't put cash in my Louis Vuitton wallet. I have it thrown around my bag - jut a whole bunch of hundreds, maybe $5,000.

I'm thinking of a legacy that I can be proud of and wealth that my grandchildren can use to go to college. So world domination - in terms of providing for my family - is absolutely my goal.

I've always had this female-empowerment thing in the back of my mind - because I wanted my mother to be stronger, and she couldn't be. I thought, 'If I'm successful, I can change her life.'

The animated bug has bitten pop culture. It makes me feel happy and free. When you don't act seriously, you can make up your own rules.

My best and worst 'Idol' moments? I don't have a worst 'Idol' moment... I've been spectacular. Yes, I am going to toot my own horn. And then my best moment is every single moment. I'll toot it again!

Lavender is the new pink. I'll never stop wearing pink but I wanted to venture out.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I am like, 'This is a high-top day' or 'This is a bob day,' but when I get my clothes on that's when I see.

I'm just happy that 'Idol' producers gave me a shot on the show and to be able to show who I really was, because I feel like I'm every single woman.

I've gotten tons of awards and I believe when it's my time to get a Grammy, I'll get a Grammy.

If people are sitting in the barbershop talking about my butt, it's conversational. That's what people are gonna do.

Female rappers get it the hardest. You have to be a girl, yet you have to be just as hard as the guys. I think some female rappers get scared out of the business before they can make it.

Who doesn't love Enya? Whenever I'm in a trying time, she is the calm in the middle of the storm. If I put her on, I'll be in this crazy peaceful state. I love her style. And her harmonies are freaking genius.

I'm a rapper... Gaga's a fantastic artist, you know, she paved her way. She's opened her own lane. But I think that I have my own lane. And we never cross. Ever. So, you know, I really don't get the comparison anymore. Our music doesn't sound the same. Our stage presence is not the same. I just can't see the similarities.

My goal in the beginning was to buy my mother a house. Now I realize, okay, if I really focus and become a key player in business, then I can build an empire.

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.

I want to show little girls that the possibilities are endless. That's my goal - to not only do it for myself, but to show them I can do whatever I put my mind to.

I look at rap as an opportunity to act. My head is full of different characters - in each song I'm auditioning a character.

I really, really don't think that, outside of maybe some pink wigs, [that] there's anything that separates me from every other woman in America.

I feel like [throughout] my entire career and life, that I've been judged by people who really did not know me. But I definitely think that they probably were right to assume what they had assumed about me, because there was so little to go on out there. If you only see videos of me being crazy and hearing little things here and there, then obviously you're not going to have any idea who I really am.

Nothing is worse than going home and having not played a gig.

I'm very proud of my team, and the way they stood behind me - and I'm very happy to show my female fans in that audience, and even my gay fans in that audience.

I don't want to hear any drama [about me]. I don't want any negativity. I don't want to hear what's on the blog. I don't care what others say about me.

I never thought I'd love nude lipstick, but I really do. I just feel sexier. Less is definitely more.

When you're working and you're busy and you're successful, no matter what, something suffers, whether it's your relationship with your mother, your relationship with your whole family. Certain things suffer and take the back burner, not because they're on the back burner in your heart but because the world just moves so quickly. A lot of people, when they're chasing their dreams, they have to leave people they love.

A lot of rappers want somebody to always sing on their records. If you can hold a note, they're gonna' ask you to come and be apart of their creativity. At that time, they were eager and on the streets selling drugs or in the studio making music. That was a big part of our lives were I grew up.

I'm not judging myself; I'm not dissing what I do. I'm proud of what I've done and I'm proud of what I'm working on. I've accomplished something and I'm not going to be ashamed to be happy about what I've done.

I wouldn't even say the internet is a gift and a curse for hip-hop. All types of music are bootlegged, including movies which are bootlegged.

Every woman is a character - but people need to see I'm a regular human. It's like you wear a pink wig and you're no longer human all of sudden.

Versace was and still is about the sophisticated woman who is elegant, not afraid of her own sensuality, and not afraid to dare or take risks in life.

People's expectations of what I'm capable of doing are very low. People have been used to hearing little one-liners and me play around.

I do lots of weird voices and I kind of act out my raps. That's something that's always been in me.

I've never worn flats in my life. I haven't owned any since I was a kid. I suppose the only flats I have are the shoes I wear to the gym, but I put them on just before I start to work out... I like heels.

I love to move around. I'm not a person who likes to stay in the same place all the time.

I love my hair. But I don't even remember my original color because I started bleaching it so young. I was, like, 11.

Acting was always a part and faucet of my life. It just comes very natural. I think it's a good thing.

As far as cities, I love London. I go to London very often because I think the young people there are very creative. I also love New York, of course, and the clash of different cultures you find there.

I think fashion has a lot to do with passion and that's where you get your inspiration.

As a designer, you always take facets of different people and you mix them together with your own thoughts and information and creativity and passion.

All rappers predominantly sound the same and want you to think their meanest person in the world, and that they're all gangster and all that. My acting allowed me to be playful and crazy, and it helps me tell stories and all that. I think it's a good time; rap needs that kind of stuff.

I have to have the sensibility to keep Versace company in good shape because there are so many people working for it, and we need to have the company grow and also be relevant. So I work very hard for all that to happen, and I wish people would know me for that and be satisfied.

I feel like I'm a designer, not a pop star. But if certain people think of me like a pop star, then the only thing I could do about this is dye my hair black and cut it short maybe.

To adjust your philosophy and creativity in fashion to the time you're living in is the most important thing.

The music is always blasting wherever I am that people always knock on my door and say, "It's too loud!"

I grew up in the south of Italy, next to the sea, which was a great place to grow up. The type of life we lived there was very relaxing. Just very fun, open-minded people. It was all very sociable and low-key.

For inspiration you go to the archives, you go to things of the past, but you still need to be contemporary for today. You can never forget the time you're living in because the past is the past and it will never come back.

If I wasn’t winning you wouldn’t care

Yes I’m a beast and I feast when I conquer!

Me against enemies, me against friends. Somehow theyboth seem to become one

I experiment with fashion, with my look, with everything. I’m a multidimensional woman, like all women are. The difference is that I have the balls to take chances.

Anyway Ri Ri what rhymes wit your name really? Money got you vacationing in Chile