Nicki Minaj Says Kanye West is Her Mentor

The Barbie describes her relationship with Kanye, saying he has become her mentor and explains how "Monster" came to be.

One of the year's highlights for Nicki Minaj has been her show stopping performance on Kanye West's "Monster." In fact, the cut has already earned her a Year-End Award Presented by HipHopDX for "Verse of the Year." But it seems Kanye is much more than another artist for Nicki as she recently spoke with RWD about her relationship with West, noting he has become her mentor.

"Well I was great friends with Amber Rose when they were dating and she hadrecommended me to him for his album and finally I guess he relented [laughs]," Minaj said of meeting West, before explaining how her "Monster" verse was created. "One day I got a call from her and she said Kanye wanted me to come down to Hawaii and record for the album. He told me I could pick what I wanted to be on. I heard the beat for 'Monster.' I fell in love with it and that’s how the "Monster" verse happened."

Their partnership did not end there. When Minaj was getting closer to releasing her own album, she said she needed Kanye West to be a part of it.

"When it came to me putting my album out, I was like ‘I can’t have an album without Kanye. He has to be a part of it.' He’s become my mentor, he gives meadvice, he hits me, takes random pictures off-line and says ‘Oh this is a good picture of you.' He’s really into fashion so he’s a good person to have a well-roundedconversation with."

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