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popped out to her. It wouldn’t be long before the artist we
know as Nicki would go from watching Bad Boy on BET to sharing the stage with Diddy on the same channel. In the summer of 2010, she appeared on the BET Awards. Ludacris brought her for a rendition of his hit song “My Chick Bad.” They were joined onstage by DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, T-Pain and Puffy for the summer anthem “All I Do Is Win.” It was a winning night for Minaj, indeed. “That was a big deal because when has a female rapper ever done that,” she says. It’s a question that can be asked about
many aspects of Minaj’s career. She has attended events with Anna Wintour, and has a number of endorsement deals, including O.P.I. nail polish, MAC makeup and Pepsi. And she isn’t just a self-proclaimed Barbz — Mat- tel actually made a doll in her likeness. She has also managed to become a platinum- selling artist in an age when most would argue that fans do not buy music. So what keeps her motivated? The fans. “They always have a positive twist with
anything going on in my career,” she says. “When I meet them or speak to them, they all have a really heartfelt story about their lives and their own personal struggles. They deal with so much, and they still keep their big smiles. If they can keep that energy, I can do it,” she says. In turn, her energy keeps her fans going. It’s a level of reciprocity she acknowledges and calls a win-win situation. She shares the story of one of her stand-
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out fans who had a run-in with her security. Just when it looked as though he wouldn’t be able to get to Minaj, he pushed her guard aside and rapped lyrics from her song “Beez in the Trap.” “I busted out laughing,” she says. “He got thrown out and I made security go get him because it was just so hilarious. The energy that he was giving me — even while he was getting manhandled by secu- rity — he was still in all his Nicki Minaj swag. I was obsessed with him.” This year Minaj will take the stage at the
BET Awards, inspiring her fans yet again, and adding to her history and relationship with the network. “BET has supported me from the beginning of my career, and I really feel a part of the BET family,” she says. “I’m thank- ful and grateful for their support, and I love what they do [for] hip-hop culture. They’ve given people like me hope to do what we do.”
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