Minaj called from the midst of her Roman Reloaded tour to chat with Rolling Stone about her style projects, her "Pound the Alarm" video and her Olympic pride. She also took the opportunity to escalate her cheeky fashion-mogul rivalry with her mentor, Lil Wayne; Macy's is scarcely prepared.
What made you want to get involved with Adidas Originals?
Well I am a fan of the Adidas brand and have been for a very long time. I believe they represent what I represent, which is inspiration and fun and working hard as well.
Speaking of Trinidad, I saw the behind-the-scenes video for "Pound the Alarm." I enjoyed it; it has a lot of vibrant imagery. Does the island's culture influence your music?
Yeah, it was really great. The scenery was nice, all the people were super warm and I really think that it was the best thing to do for the song "Pound the Alarm" because it kinda just makes everyone feel really free. I didn't want the video to come across as really contrived and the video comes across as really carefree and just kind of exhilarating. We recreated a Trinidad carnival and we got the masks and all the bands and the confetti and the pink and the fire. We just created a Trinidad carnival and it was a lot of fun.
What's your favorite part of a Trinidad carnival?
I like to watch the girls dance. That's always my best part. The girls wear super-duper-cute outfits and they just dance like there's no tomorrow. That's usually my favorite part.
You've had several style collaborations this year – first MAC Viva Glam, then OPI, now Adidas. Do you have any more fashion projects on the horizon?
Well, I'm putting my fragrance out in September. We're also working on the clothing line – I'm trying to launch that next year. We have the designs, the designers, all of that stuff. We're just looking for a place and deciding where we're gonna go with the brand. We've had a couple offers from a lot of big players. I'm really looking forward to it because I feel like my fans are always asking me, "Where'd you get this? Where'd you get that?" and sometimes they can't afford certain things, so my biggest goal was to make a line that was going to be affordable to my fans and also rich enough in quality that they'll feel like they're wearing exactly what I'm wearing. I'm really excited about that.
Can you describe one outfit or give us an idea of what exactly will be in the clothing line?
It'll be Harajuku Barbie, put it that way. I think it'll kinda have both those alter egos somewhere in there.
What about the perfume? Let's talk about that. How's it going to smell?
I sprayed the perfume for a few of my fans at the meet-and-greet at the tours and they're like, "It smells like heaven." [Laughs] They're like, "It's so soothing." It has, like, floral and woodsy undertones. It's just really, really sweet. It's really refreshing. I sprayed it for Drake and he was like, "Yeah, I'd like it if my girl smelled like that." So I've been getting a lot of opinions on it. The guys seem to like it and the girls are gonna love it.
Oh, so you're designing for men? Or is he just going to make the girly look work for him?
I'm gonna have some stuff. My boys, like the gay boys, are like, "Nicki, please do not exclude us from this clothing line," so I'm going to make it my business to have stuff that my boys can wear as well. Also, it's gonna build, you know? We'll see how it starts but I don't want to leave my boys out. They're too precious and they're always so supportive, so I'm going to do my best to include the boys and the girls on this one.
What is your favorite stage outfit you've worn in your career?
You know, for the Grammys I wore the Oscar de la Renta dress and it was the most comfortable dress, the most comfortable stage outfit I've ever worn. To me, it's about being comfortable onstage. If I can be comfortable, then I'm very, very, very happy. More recently, I liked what I wore for the BET Awards, when I was doing "Beez in the Trap" 'cuz it was sexy and it made me feel really powerful.
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