With a new album and a TV series inspired by her life in the works, Nicki Minaj—the most bankable woman in hip-hop—is at the height of her game.
AS I WAIT FOR NICKI MINAJ IN HER SUITE ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE TRUMP INTERNATIONAL HOTEL & TOWER OVERLOOKING NYC’S CENTRAL PARK, I’M STRUCK BY THE commonalities between her and the Republican presidential nominee. Both are mononymous New Yorkers from Queens who have flaunted citrusy coifs, eliminated contestants on television (she on American Idol; he on The Apprentice), and brokered lucrative product deals. They also speak their minds no matter the consequences.
When the Trinidadian-born rapper who spun gold without a silver spoon appears, she purrs to her publicist that she’s worried her glam team won’t arrive early enough to get her stage-ready for tonight’s performance for cable network Adult Swim’s upfronts at Terminal Five.
“Oh, my God,” Minaj says when she notices me. “I look a hot-ass mess!”
Actually, she doesn’t. Her skin is poreless without a drop of foundation. Her beyond-blonde hair hangs well past her waist. She possesses the beauty of someone of an indeterminate age with eyes fixed in a perpetual squint as if she were inspecting and questioning. At 5'3", the dominant rapper cuts a much smaller presence in person, compacted in gray leggings, a matching T-shirt, a Marc Jacobs denim jacket, silver Miu Miu sneakers, and a leather hat.
This story is from the November 2016 edition of Marie Claire - US.
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This story is from the November 2016 edition of Marie Claire - US.
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