Nicki Minaj 'Fought' Kanye West to Keep 'Monster' on His Album
Nicki Minaj takes a trip down memory lane. On the seventh anniversary of her “Monster” collaboration with Kanye West, the rap queen looks back on her iconic verse, while making some revelations.
In an Instagram post, Nicki revealed that she had to “convince” Yeezy to keep the song on his album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
“Kanye called me to tell me Jay put a verse on this song & that he was still deciding if he would put it on his album. Haha,” she wrote. “It was like an hour long call where I tried to convince him to let the song stay on his album. He felt this verse would end up being the talk of the album. I said: YOU’RE KANYE WEST!!!!”
Despite Kanye’s alleged hesitation, the track was eventually released to critical acclaim. Many still see it as one of Minaj’s crowning moments.
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“Kanye, thank you for being the genius you are. You always put others first,” she added. “I fought u every step of the way but it worked out. (He wanted me to add more of that growling monster voice and I felt it was over kill.) He wouldn’t give in. In the end, maybe he was right. Ha! – this song featured Barbie and Roman.”
“Monster” was such a standout that it became a single, one that featured Barbie’s battle with Roman. Blac Chyna was called in to be a body double in order to make that face-to-face happen in the video, according to Minaj.
“Chyna was my stunt double in the video. (Due to her ASSets),” she added. “Amber [Rose] had spoken highly of me to Ye n pushed for him to meet with me. The rest is history.”
Elsewhere in the retrospective caption, Nicki reflected on how the verse got JAY-Z’s respect. “I became the first female rapper to perform @ Yankee Stadium on the JAY/Eminem stadium tour,” she wrote. “When I saw him, Jay said: ‘when u got so nice’? I said: ‘I been nice’! Ha!”
Later, she thanked Kanye, JAY, and Eminem. “All 3 of them helped me in some way,” she noted. “Love.”
“Monster” was released on Oct. 23 as part of Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Friday campaign. It eventually became the sixth song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, featuring appearances by JAY-Z, Rick Ross, and Bon Iver.
Nicki and Kanye are both currently at work on their next solo albums. For Yeezy, it will be the follow-up to last year’s The Life of Pablo. Meanwhile, Minaj is making her return after 2014’s The Pinkprint.