Head Barbie In Charge, Nicki Minaj has serious grind for a newcomer in the game. She has not only been featured on two tours this year, they just happened to be two of the largest tours to take place in 2011. First, she joined her
Money boss Lil Wayne for his ‘I Am Still Music’ tour, and now she’s just begun roaming the states with pop princess Britney Spears for her Femme Fatale shows.
Though recently Rolling Stone magazine gave Nicki a less than favorable review of her live performance, she hasn’t let that rain on her parade. The rapper recently sat down with the L.A. Times and shared her
while out on the road with Britney Spears as well as what it is like to perform for a pop audience that tends to be less critical than hip hop audiences.
On the creative direction of the show.
I wanted the direction to feel like a few girls from another planet. One of them just happens to be “the chosen one.” They embark on a journey to go to a few different cities and search for this person named Nemesis. I wanted it to be really theatrical and
fun. And I just wanted to make the audience feel like they were spying on our world.
On performing for a pop audience and how it differs from a hip hop audience
Well, initially, what I thought was I hope this audience will appreciate what I do. What I first dealt with was a bit of the unknown. Is this something that Britney’s crowd will even enjoy? But it all went away the first night. I stood in the transporter, that big prop that we have on the stage, and I could not believe the crowd reaction before they even saw me. It was very emotional for me. I was so shocked. I thought, OK, on the Wayne tour, this is my audience, everyone that knows Wayne, they know Nicki Minaj. When I heard those screams, it was one of the best feelings in the world. It changed overnight. I’m pleasantly surprised with the people coming out on this show; they generally are coming out not to critique, but to have fun. The hip-hop community tends to be more critical. On this stage, I felt a little bit more free.
On How Much Time She Had To Prepare For The Britney Tour
I’m going to be honest: I haven’t even done a dress rehearsal for this tour yet. I know most people wouldn’t come out and say that, but we’ve been really, really pulling this off by the
skin of my teeth because like you said, I had just come off a tour, and right after the tour we had to prep for a lot of other things. We really didn’t have a lot of prep time, and then of course I’m not the headlining act so I didn’t get time on the stage, I didn’t get time for my lighting and my cues. We really have been pulling it off.
I wanted more time to nurture the show and get it to the point where I was ready to see it, but unfortunately tick, tick, tick, it was time to go up. So just being honest, I really don’t think the show is where I want it to be as far as preparation. People don’t notice, you’ll never know, but I’m having all these wardrobe malfunctions. [During Monday’s
performance] my dress broke, I couldn’t walk down the aisle on “Fly,” for the fight scene my holster didn’t come off in time — it was a lot of craziness backstage. I really can’t wait for people to see this show after we start to feel comfortable. These three shows have been our dress rehearsals. We’re definitely not in our comfort zone yet.
On if she will be headlining a solo tour and what she has taken from both the Wayne and Britney tours
Let me just say I’m going to take from Britney and Wayne, because they’re both veterans. Being completely honest I’ve learned so much from them, in terms of production. Britney’s production is so amazing. When I sat out there the first night to watch it, I felt like I was a kid at an amusement park. It was so much, the lights, the content and the props. Whereas Wayne, he teaches me how to command a crowd. His comfort level and how he makes people feel like he’s their best
friend when he’s onstage. He has that command. If you can put both of those two things into a show, you can really do an amazing show — that’s my goal. Am I gonna be able to do these humongous venues within the next year? Probably not. But am I gonna put on an amazing show and give everyone something that’s gonna be well worth what they paid? Absolutely yes.
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