Nicki Minaj: "Black girls should feel sexy, powerful and important."

Nicki Minaj discussed her competitive nature in a cover story published today (November 7) by Billboard.

"You should always be competing,” Nicki Minaj says in the interview. “You should always be trying to show that you're the best."

Nicki Minaj is currently promoting her third studio album, The Pinkprint, which is scheduled for a December 15 release.

The Young Money emcee said that she is very heavily involved in planning her own career.

“I'm on 15 to 25 conference calls every few days strategizing with my team,” Minaj says. “I think a lot of artists sit back and have it done for them. Sometimes as women in the industry -- if you're sexy or like doing sexy things -- some people subconsciously negate your brain. They think you're stupid."

Her single “Anaconda” peaked at No. 2 in the Billboard Hot 100. The music video attracted criticism for its portrayal of the female form.

"Everything we see that's labeled as beautiful is very skinny," Minaj says. "In the song I kind of say, ‘F--- them skinny girls.' But it's all love. I consider myself a skinny girl. I went overboard with the video to show that I'm not going to hide. And those big-booty dancers I have, they're not going to hide. Black girls should feel sexy, powerful and important too."

Beyoncé, who recently enlisted Nicki for a “Flawless” remix, is a woman who Minaj said she respects.

"There's something about her work ethic that always made me feel like no matter how hard stuff gets, I'm not allowed to complain," says Minaj. "Some women give me the feeling that where there's a will, there's a way."

Minaj said in August that the upcoming album will have no features.

Nicki recently said she recorded 25 songs for The Pink Print.

“I know some artists do, like, 100 songs,” Nicki Minaj said. “But with me, I really don’t like to put my energy into anything that I’m not in love with. If I love it and if it really sits with me, then I mold that one particular record for a while. My biggest problem with this album, believe it or not, is finding out what the hell I can lose, because all the songs are so freaking special and they all mean something. There are songs I know I have to cut that I know my fans would be in love with. It’s getting more strict! The record companies want to go back to putting ten songs on albums, but I always do different genres of music, so if I put out an album of ten songs, my fans would probably kill me!”

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