In 2012, Minaj canceled her appearance at Hot 97вЂ™s Summer Jam after its host, Peter Rosenberg, threw shade at вЂњStarships,вЂќ calling it вЂњbullshitвЂќ that isnвЂ™t вЂњreal hip-hop.вЂќ Nearly a year later, she appeared on RosenbergвЂ™s radio show, and offered perhaps the most succinct explanation of her MO as an artist. Now that she has tested the waters, sheвЂ™s going back to she enjoyed best.вЂќД«ut itвЂ™s more complicated than that. вЂњThe last album showed her versatility, how she can make a straight hood/club banger and at the same time still be dominant in the pop industry.

Many said that her more natural look signaled the return of вЂњMixtape Nicki.вЂќ Even Lil Wayne has specific expectations in the wake of whatвЂ™s been called вЂњthe makeunderвЂќ: вЂњIвЂ™m looking forward to her going back to her roots-bar for bar straight lyrical content,вЂќ he says. In August, after the MTV VMAs, when Nicki graced the red carpet without a wig or multicolored makeup or costume, the media dissected her aesthetic transition ad nauseum. While in вЂњalbum mode,вЂќ she spent 2014 killing remixes to Young ThugвЂ™s вЂњDanny Glover,вЂќ Rae SremmurdвЂ™s вЂњNo Flex Zone,вЂќ and, most notably, BeyoncГ©вЂ™s вЂњFlawless.вЂќ ThatвЂ™s on top of her own tracks вЂњYasss Bish,вЂќ вЂњChi-Raq,вЂќ and the cutthroat вЂњLookinвЂ™ Ass.вЂќ Her most recent singles-the soft and reflective relationship song вЂњPills N PotionsвЂќ and the comically sexual вЂњAnacondaвЂќ-display a versatility that, by now, feels like signature Nicki. Last December, Minaj threw a couple of frenzied verses on вЂњBoss Ass Bitch,вЂќ a viral YouTube hit by L.A. Judging by her output over the past year, The Pinkprint will have a little of everything, meaning itвЂ™ll be quintessential Nicki.

SheвЂ™s calling it her вЂњmost personalвЂќ album yet. The 31-year-old rapper and singer is de-glammed in a black turtleneck crop top, matching leggings, and fluffy duck slippers, her makeup wiped off and her natural hair pulled out from beneath the black bob wig she wore for the shoot.ДЇive years after signing with Lil Wayne on the strength of her street DVD freestyles four years after becoming an international superstar off the bubblegum pop of вЂњSuper BassвЂќ two years after offending rap purists with вЂњStarships,вЂќ Minaj is dropping her third studio album, The Pinkprint, this fall. and Nicki Minaj is curled up on a black leather couch in the green room of HollywoodвЂ™s Siren Studios, exhausted from last nightвЂ™s recording session, which ended at 4 a.m., and todayвЂ™s 11-hour magazine shoot.

Nicki minaj pills n potions album cover