Lil Wayne delivered another episode of his Young Money Radio on Apple Music Friday (June 12), featuring an all-star cast of guests including T-Pain, Nicki Minaj, Damien Lillard, Noreaga and Lil Duval.
Weezy and his longtime pal, whom he introduced as “the First Lady of Young Money and the Queen of every f—ing thing,” delved into a chat about being a female in the rap game. Wayne recalled that when he signed Nicki to his label back in 2009, people told him not to sign a woman.
“It was getting someone to take you serious, and that was the whole thing I was worried about,” Minaj explained. “I didn’t know if you would take me serious, because at the time people had really given up on female rappers.”
“I just knew I was going to make it, so I was enjoying the groundwork of it and I was working super hard,” she continued. “I think people don’t realize the work that goes into it. Because if you’re not going to work, why bother?”
Wayne went on to give himself and Nicki props for the most Hot 100 entries with Drake and Elvis Presley–plus congratulating Minaj on her chart topping “Say So” remix with Doja Cat. “I have never built my career on whether or not something goes number one,” Minaj replied. “Most of the things that stick forever in rap, they don’t go number one.”
On how “the married life is treating her,” Minaj gushed over her new husband Kenneth Petty. “I didn’t think it would be as refreshing and calming as it is,” she explained. “Even if you’re not married, when you have someone who feels like your soulmate or someone who understands you, you feel on top of the world.”
Listen to the full episode here.