Nicki Minaj Says She Can Do Anything Jay Z Can Do and Instantly Reminds Us Why She's a Boss

Kai Z Feng

Nicki Minaj has made it a point to come into the scene and shake things up.
Whether it's making room for more female emcees in a male-dominated industry or proving that there is no glass ceiling she can't break, Barbz has used her celebrity to be (very) vocal about what she believes in and has therefore become the poster image for a boss, because one thing's for sure—whatever Nicki wants, she's gonna make sure she gets it.
Posing with fierce realness on the cover of Marie Claire for their latest issue, the rapper touches on women's goals and competing with big-time male rappers by explaining that she can most definitely create a career and empire for herself, just like any of the big boys. Even Hov.

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Fashion Spotlight: Nicki Minaj

Kai Z Feng

 "I don't need to read a book about [business]. I can look at someone's career and just pinpoint the dos and the don'ts, and the one person I've done that with for my entire career was Jay Z," she says.
"He did such a great job being an authentic street guy and a businessman, and I was like, Why aren't there women doing that, taking the success from rap and channeling it into their empire? I felt like anything he could do, I could do."
Minaj touched on the fact that many women seem to marry into money these days instead of creating a fortune for themselves, which she finds worrisome. "Nowadays, I feel like [young women] see marrying into money—I think that's a big thing now. I don't want that to be a woman's goal in life," she states.

Kai Z Feng

"I want your goal in life to be to become an entrepreneur, a rich woman, a career-driven woman.  You have to be able to know that you need no man on this planet at all, period, and he should feel that, because when a man feels that you need him, he acts differently."
Another woman who breeds the same message of female empowerment is Nicki's gal-pal, and Jay's wife, Beyoncé The two artists have collaborated on "Feeling Myself" and the "Flawless (Remix)," both of which quickly became anthems for women who enjoyed acknowledging their independence while bobbing to a catchy beat.
Nicki completely understands the draw to her projects with Queen B, and it has everything to do with what these two represent.

"Every time Bey and I do something together, I see how women are inspired, and it has nothing to do with how we look. It has to do with how we are owning who we are and telling other women you should be the boss of your own career and the brains behind your life or your decisions or your art. I just love that feeling."
For more of Nicki Minaj's interview with Marie Claire, pick up their November issue when it hits newsstands on Oct. 18.