7:39 PM
[BOMB]
[In unusually subdued voice.] āNew York, New Jersey, Connecticut, whatās going on? So, today, New York City, Iām going to talk to Nicki Minaj. And Iām going to ask her everything we need to know. And weāre going to talk about this to the end.ā
āI was tight, yesterday. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, I was in a place. I was seeing a color, a shade ofāit was like a combination of burgandy and orange, at the time, if you can visualize that.ā
āSo: I then calmed down a little bit. Put another plan in action. Which weāre going to get to today. So weāre going to speak to Nicki Minaj in a little while. Weāre going to play this Chris Brown?ā
[In trademark scream.] āALRIGHT, IF YOU WERE AT SUMMER JAM HIT ME UP ON TWITTER AT FUNKMASTER FLEX. (You see how my whole voice thing changed?)ā
9:23 PM
FF: Time-Out. Summer Jam is not based on morales. This show is built on whoās bringing out celebrities, whoās coming out, and whoās getting dissed
NM: But weāre not coming out
FF: Iāve already said to you: Rosenberg might not have picked the best moment to do it. Thatās the time for it. When youāre getting read to perform. Itās his opinion. He maybe shouldnāt have given that opinion
NM: Iām going to answer your question but you gotta stop talking
FF: Thatās the first time youāve ever told me that Wayne has ever overruled you. It happens. Itās a label. We couldnāt do anything to fix the situation
NM: Flex
FF: Iām here
NM: Flex. I need you to breathe. Youāre not even listening and I need you to simma. For three hours, we emailed [Hot 97 manager Ebro Darden], and actually, my manager was the first person to tell me: Yo, youāre not going on that stage. Wayne was the second person. For three hours, we could not get a resolution. [CEO of Hip Hop Since 1978] G. Roberson emailed me, and said: Hey, I need you on the phone. Ebro said āLet me get to the bottom of this.ā You know I love Ebro. After he sent that email, we never heard back
FF: But you know something?
NM: Can I finish?
FF: Damn, okay
NM: Flex. Flex. My label and program was reaching out to the manager
FF: Now I understand the reason that you did it. And Iām listening to you. When you went to Twitter, and you did that, we felt that you were making an issue, and you were trying to put us on Front Street
NM: Ohhhhh. Ohhh. Okay. He tried to embarrass me, but I canāt embarrass you
9:31 PM
NM: Flex, if youāre gonna just say wrong information blatantly like that, then ask me a question, because Iām not here to play games
FF: Thatās a nice way of calling me a liar
NM: Well, I want you to know that we wanted to do the show
FF: Well, now that you said thatā¦.[Cuts in on Interview] [BOMB] Weāll be back, weāll be back. Iām gonna rewind that
9:39 PM
FF: Everyone was wondering if you were really gonna touch the stage. Iām just keeping it real with you. Nicki, look: There were people who were wondering if you were afraid to step on the stage. Iām not saying thatās how I feel, but people feel that way
NM: Do you see the kind of places Iāve gone to? Did you see how many people we were with yesterday? We were two-hundred deep. Letās not go there. There isnāt a bitch aliveāand when I say bitch, I include men, because youāre a bitch when you act like thatāthat could scare me from performing a show. I get money. I get money. Flexā¦
FF: [Interrupting]
NM: Flexā¦Iām not even going to say what couldāve happened yesterday, and please donāt interrupt. Relax. Relax. This is the real reason why I called you. You said something about my record sales
FF: Yes, I did
NM: And I want you to pull up your roster from everyone who was performing on your show. My first album sold 375,000 copies in its first week. My first album has gone on to sell 3.5 million records. My second album is at 900,000 worldwide, plus a three million selling single. If you donāt know, call Matt Voss at Universal, Flex, do the math, m-a-t-h, thatās one-point-two-million on my second album. Even without the single, Iāve sold. Three. Point. Five. Million. Albums. In Two Years. I want you before you ever open your mouthāitās so misleading, when I saw Foxy Brown, she said, Nic, why are they saying things about your sales when youāve gone number one in four countries? You know who the last one to do that was, Flex? The person previous to me was Eminem in 2010
FF: But you know what? Weāre not talking about LAST NIGHT, IN JERSEY, AT SUMMER JAM. I didnāt go at you because youāre a woman, I didnāt go at you because of that, I went at you because youāre an artist performing at Summer Jam. Iām not going at Wayne. What did you think? Did you think all that was gonna happen and nobody was gonna say nothing?
9:47 PM
FF: Weāre being attacked, by your team, so Iām expressing myself, Iām not going to go tit-for-tat with you
NM: I appreciate that you owned that
FF: I didnāt say your albums are trash
NM: I appreciate that. But let me say this: In the history of the hip hop worldā¦there has been one, single, solitary human being in the history of the world. One female rapper to sell more albums than me in the first week
FF: Nicki, Iām gonna reel this in for you. Weāre talking about album sales. A lot of the people that bought those albums last night were in Summer Jam
NM: Thatās right. So Iām gonna have a free show, for my fans, sometime this summer, in New York
FF: BUT DID WAYNE DO THE RIGHT THING?
NM: I need you to simma. Listen, Flex. I need you to calm down
FF: DID LILā WAYNE MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION? YES OR NO?
NM: Iā¦Iā¦
FF: UH-UH. YES OR NO. DID LILā WAYNE MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION TO PULL YOU FROM THE SHOW?
NM: Capital Y. Capital E. Capital S. R-E-S-P-E-C-T
FF: YES? YES? ARE YOU SAYING YES?
NM: I just spelled it out for you. People are gonna know the truth. And every woman is going to know. People are laughing, Flex. Theyāre gonna know the truth
9:53 PM
FF: Hot 97 does a concert
NM: Yes, but Flexā¦[Flex talks over her.]
FF: Weāre known around the world. And youāre known around the world
NM: Flex, Iām getting off the phone. All youāre doing is talking over me. [Flex talks over her.]
FF: I am not talking over you. You are at fault and we are at fault too. We are both at fault. Egos were involved. Not just in the beginning part of itāand I will speak for myself as wellāmy ego, your ego, Wayneās ego, Ebroās ego, all of our egos were involved, and the people suffered and DID NOT SEE Nicki Minaj, Wayne, and DJ Khalid. And Foxy and Kim
[BOMB]
10:01 PM
[BOMB]
FF: Look, you gotta kinda rock with me on this. I already said Rosenberg didnāt pick the right time and place to say that. But Wayne should not have taken his artist
NM: I love my team. And you gotta respect that
FF: But now I take it to Wayne. And he should not have made that call. If people are on the phone when they already know that Nickiās not performing, we feel like weāre up against the wall. But howāre we gonna fix this? Wayneās wearing two hats. Heās artist and label. Wayne was a featured guest. The fans didnāt buy the tickets to see Wayne, they bought them to see Nicki Minaj. As the label guy, I was diappointed
NM: I got it, I got your feelings. Are you gonna let me talk? Youāve already made your opinion clear, and nobodyās opinions seem to be changing. I just want to apologize to my fans for what happened last night, and like I said on Twitter, Iām going to make it up to them with a free concert. And they said you know what Hot 97? When you want our team to come to your show, treat us with respect. And thatās all weāre asking. Weāre not asking for any special treatment. Just respect. And Iām very proud of my team, and the way they stood behind meāand Iām very happy to show my female fans in that audience, and even my gay fans in that audience, when Iām coming to your home, respect me. Itās no longer comedy. Wayne doesnāt take me as a joke
FF: Iām asking you a question before you get off the phone. Last nightās issues between all of us has not been just about last night. Can we agree?
NM: Yes! Flex, Iām telling you the response to that was it got to an all-time level of disrespect
FF: Does Hot 97 deserve an apology Nicki?
NM: I stand behind it! No, no radio station that allows someone to disrespect me before I go on stage deserves an apology. And I know you respect it. Say it
FF: No! (Laughs) Youāre trying to bully me. I know what youāre trying to do
NM: Flex, weāre talking in circles
FF: But can we agree that weāll respect each other?
NM: Yes. We can do that. All I ask is next time we go forward, we get respected. We need to know that the person who disrespected me is going to apologizeāI donāt need an apology, I just needā¦
FF: BUT CAN WE SAY YOUāRE GOING TO DO SUMMER JAM NEXT YEAR?
NM: Iām gonna have to talk to Wayne, and Baby, andā¦
10:14
FF: You know what, Nicki? I want to be honest with you. I think youāre putting me in a position at this particular moment. Youāre putting me in a position [by asking Rosenberg to apologize]. I donāt think I should get off the phone with you right now, I donāt want to be in a position to say sorry
NM: Were you wrong, or not?
FF: You know what, Nicki? Iām not wrong in defending my team
NM: When you said something about the streets, and sales, I just want you to know that Iām never mad when you donāt like something, but when you give facts to the world, they take what you say as the truth
FF: That criticism comes with the game. Once the crossover stations, even if they take one of your gutterist hip hop records and play it, weāve seen this with 2Pac, Biggie, everybody, if weāre going to have this conversation, Nicki, you are particularly sensitive to it
NM: What, the whole pop thing?
FF: Yeah. They say it about every rapper
NM: Itās not about pop, Flex. Itās about disrespecting an artist
FF: Are we fleshed out? Are we cool?
NM: Just run the entire interview. Donāt chop nothing else. I will tell you this one last thing: When I sat in the restaurant last night with my team, Beanie said, Nicki: Do you know what would happen if someone in Jamaica went on stage last night before I performed to the crowd? He said n***as would be in the hoes-pit-al. But let me tell you: Nothing is worse than going home and having not played a gig. I just wanna leave with saying this: Iām gonna make this up to my fans. And I want my fans to know, nothing, no radio station, no one can alter our relationship. I have a very personal relationship with my fans, and Iām truly sorry that peopleās nights were ruined. You guys have no idea, Iāve gone through hell and back. Iām not a quitter. I show up and perform. I went with my teamās decision, and I made history, and the next time I come out, people wonāt disrespect me. And for once, I feel like Iāve really really shown the world, I love and respect myself, and people arenāt gonna go there any more. And you know what, Flex? Hit me on the email, itās all good
FF: We rocked out, weāre gonna continue to rock out. Okay?
NM: Okay. Just put up this whole interview and weāre fine. Okay?
FF: (Laughs) Okay
NM: Bye
FF: Bye
[BOMB]