One year after her infamous blowout with Hot 97, Nicki Minaj came face-to-face with morning host Peter Rosenberg, who caused her to pull out of Summer Jam by dissing her hit “Starships.” The two explained their sides of the story and put their differences aside.
While the Barbz may not forgive him, Nicki has moved on. “It’s cool. It’s water under the bridge,” she told Rosenberg. “It’s so long ago, I can’t even act like I care anymore. I don’t care, I really don’t. I appreciate you guys having me.”
She did admit that she should have still performed at last year’s concert despite the situation. “In hindsight, I should have just did the show because I’ve never allowed anyone—no matter what I’ve gone through personally or professionally—I’ve never allowed that to make me let my fans down,” she said. “In hindsight, I should have just came out ’cause it’s my hometown, especially. They shouldn’t have been brought into whatever we were going through. I wish I would have came out and did the show, and I apologize for not coming out and doing the show ’cause [my fans] had nothing to do with that.”
While she never saw or heard the controversial remark, she did let Rosenberg know how she felt about him. “I never found you funny. I never found you entertaining. I never found you smart. I just found you annoying,” said the New York native. “To me, you don’t have enough of a résumé to make those comments, but you did and it is what it is. For whatever reason, our paths were meant to cross like that, so it’s over.”
Despite her pop success, her next album will be a return to her roots. “If I really wanted to right now, I could go back in and make another pop song like [‘Starships’] to sell all this stuff, and I’m choosing not to do it. I’m choosing to get back to my essence and just feed the core hip-hop fan.”
Don’t expect to hear another “Starships” on the album. “I feel like I did it, I don’t need to do it again. I don’t know how I’m gonna feel after the third album, but I know for the third album, I’ve just been getting back to that place where I was right before I dropped my first album, which is kill everything.”
But she has no regrets and is happy with her career choices. “I would do every single thing the same exact way.”
When asked if she is a diva, she responded, “I handle my business and also I speak up for myself. If I was not like this, so many people would have taken advantage of me. … I just dealt with a lot of stuff from guys, and plus my father was so crazy with his alcohol and drug abuse, I just always felt like I’m never gonna let anyone pull me down, make me feel small. I’m never gonna let a man do that.”
Hot 97 program director Ebro extended an invitation for her to come out at this year’s Summer Jam, but she has to check her availability.
She reflected on her experience on “American Idol” and her feud with Mariah Carey. “Now looking back, I can say, ‘Hmm, they’re very calculated. They knew a lot of things, but they gave me a great opportunity.’ … I did have a good time.”
Plus, she spoke about accepting her homosexual fans, her attraction to non-celebrities, and shooting the revenge comedy The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz.