Nicki Minaj announced the official launch of her own record label on the latest episode of Queen Radio.
“There’s a big announcement coming…Well, I have a record label now,” the 40-year-old said, not giving away the label’s name just yet. “I believe so strongly in loyalty, and because I’ve spend my whole life giving to others that turn around and sh*t on me.”
A long-time friend of the lyricist Patty Lauren, also known as Patty Duke, will be A&R of Minaj’s label, whose roster includes Nana Fofie, Tate Kobang, Rico Danna, and London Hill. Minaj spoke on the diversity of her artists, saying, “…Don’t think my label is just rap, or black, or anything. We got some other genres of music.”
The “Chun-Li” MC revealed she was texting Republic Records’ co-president Wendy Goldstein during the show, who motivated Nicki to disclose the exciting information.
“I said, ‘Wendy, we got to do this big. I’m a female; you a female, mamma. You got to do this right. We gotta do it right. I don’t want no little itty-bitty ting ting. I want to do it right,’” she said.
Minaj also spoke on Lil Wayne’s impact on her own career, saying, “When I came in this game, I didn’t have no paperwork with Lil Wayne. But he had us on tour, he had us in a studio, he was getting on my mixtapes.”
She continued, “I understand the importance of having somebody else doing the heavy lifting for you. I understand why people are coming out and they’re so, you know, microwaveable and they’re here today and gone tomorrow, because there’s no structure.”
In addition, Minaj elaborated on how Weezy’s mentorship drove her to work with new emerging artists. “There’s no real person that believes in them. That’s like, ‘nah, I’m gonna make it my business to see you shine’. That’s why I never wanted to do a label before because I said to myself …unless I’m ready to really put these artists on I’m not gonna ruin anyone’s life,” she explained.
The news comes with the release of her latest single, “Red Ruby Da Sleeze,” which she teased on Instagram prior to dropping it on Friday.
“Tate is one of the very best hook writers of the new generation,” she said of Kobang who helped write the song. “I almost didn’t want to tell people that, you know, I was affiliated with him because I don’t want that to affect his business. But he’s an artist, and that’s him on that hook. He wrote that hook.”
Check out the full episode of Queen Radio here.