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Nicki Minaj: The Best Woman Won

Nicki Minaj says her past beefs with female rappers are over.

With her new album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded officially in stores, Nicki Minaj continued her publicity blitz with an appearance on New York's Power 105.1 morning show The Breakfast Club. In an extensive interview, the Young Money star held forth on everything from her controversial Grammy performance, to her admiration of Cam'Ron, to her relationship with Scaff Beezy and the label that almost signed her.

Asked about her recent collaborations with fellow New York icon Cam'Ron, Minaj said she was a longtime fan of the Harlem rapper.
"He's a comedian and at the same time he's intelligent," she said. "When I see somebody go toe-to-toe with somebody like Bill O'Reilly and make that dude squirm I'm impressed. [And that's] aside from the fact that he's from New York, he put this incredible team called Dipset on the map, and he ran that movement. When I was coming up, we all wanted to be down with that movement because it was hot."
Not all New York emcees have embraced Nicki, however, most notably Lil' Kim. But the Harajuku Barbie said that, as far as she's concerned, her days of battling with other rappers are behind her.
"I'm not writing about any girls in the game past or present and I really mean that," she said. "We went at it, the best woman won, and now it's time to move on.”
"I'm having fun," she continued. "My first album I wasn't really having fun, I was too busy trying to figure out myself as an artist, I was too busy caring about what critics thought. Now I'm actually enjoying myself."
Minaj admitted that some of her earlier hits are painful to hear now that she's matured as an artist. Of her 2010 single "Massive Attack," Nicki had this to say: "I cringe when I hear that song... It didn't have no beat." She's also not a fan of "Your Love." "It wasn't mixed properly," she said.
Arguably the "Starships" singer's most controversial moment this year came at the 2012 Grammy Awards, where her performance with a Pope look-alike, monster make-up, a haunted choir and a high-wire act left many viewers cold and confused.
"That was my best performance ever!" Minaj insisted when the topic came up. "I did a skit on my 'Right Thru Me' video, I did a skit on my 'Moment For Life' video, I did a fight scene on my 'Fly' video. That was the skit for the 'Roman Holiday' video. It goes perfectly with the song, what yall don't understand?"
Asked about her frequent flirtations with Drake, Nicki said the truth of the matter is that her label mates are really like her brothers.
"We have fun," she said. "Drake and I are known for doing this crazy flirting stuff and we get a kick out of it and we think some of our fans get a kick out of it... He's definitely more like my little brother, that's how it is. I look at [Lil] Wayne as my older brother and Drake as my little brother."

For more of the exclusive interview click here.

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