Billboard: Women in hip-hop have had a tough time breaking into the mainstream over the past decade. Looking at the state of hip-hop in 2014, what’s your perspective on the state of women who rap? Dej Loaf: I think it could be stepped up a lot. I'm happy for my position that I'm in 'cause I'm definitely gonna set my mark in the game. Nicki Minaj definitely has been holding it down for quite some time now. I like her music, she does what she do, and she does it well. She's one of the very few female rappers who actually makes good music, you know what I'm saying? She's stamped. And when I say stamped, I mean she's good—she's already a legend, she can sit down today and never do nothing again and people will remember her forever. A lot of female rappers, I don't know… I always say they come in the game and they expect a lot. They look for things, they look for like, "Oh yeah, I'm a female, I need respect." And I think if you approach the game like that, it don't help much. "Oh yeah, women empowerment," 'cause that's how they gonna treat you. You gonna hear 'em complaining, like, "It's hard to be a female rapper." No, it's not. You just gotta make good music. You make good music, people gonna give you back what you giving them. I don't think it's about being a female or a male… I think people been using that for too long. I think it's, let it go. I think that’s why female rap isn't what it is, 'cause they use that so much. It's like a crutch. Just saying it’s hard being a female—no it's not. It's almost like they complain. I'm not complaining. I make music for guys, girls, babies, grandmas, aunties [and] uncles.
NOT even the Nicki stans themselves are so interested in a thread where the name Nicki Minaj appears. Thus, she IS a legend. She's in everyone's mind, and y'all will deal
