Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have been successful in bringing legendary artists to the Verzuz stage, and they are working hard to secure more illustrious stars. During a recent interview with Houston’s 97.9, Nicki Minaj revealed that she was contacted by the producers and discussed whether she would be down to compete against some of her Young Money family.
“See, Drake and Wayne… they have so many bonafide hip hop hits, so I don’t know,” Nicki said. “But I do think there might be a female or two that can [step into the ring with me.] Well, they were talking to me about it. And look, if it’s going to be a fun [battle], then you never know! That’s all I’ll say about that.”
While Nicki’s Verzuz participation is up in the air, the Pink Friday emcee already has her mind made up about the vibe of the hypothetical event.
“It should feel like a celebration, that’s exactly what I would like it to feel like,” she explained. “Fun, happiness. Because a lot of times with my career, stuff would feel like work. And now I’m just like, ‘No. Everything needs to feel good. That’s it.’”
Nicki’s comments come as she prepares for the release of her upcoming collaboration with Lil Baby, “Do We Have a Problem?” The song and accompanying visual will come out on Friday (Feb. 4) and will see an outstanding lyrical performance from the Quality Control artist, who supposedly outrapped the veteran rapper.
“First of all, I want to just say shout out to Lil Baby,” Nicki said during a recent Instagram Live. “Y’all know I always keep it real about verses and all of that… Lil Baby, he might have… ummm… he might have got me! But listen, the point is: Lil Baby went super duper hard — pause — and it’s so refreshing to see people still care about that type of stuff. I still care about it.”
She continued, “I don’t think people didn’t know Lil Baby was nice, but I will say that he pleasantly surprises me all the time. This particular record was just another moment when you could just tell the difference when somebody knows they’re here for a long time. The way he pushed himself and his pen, I loved it. He bodied, bodied, bodied. Shout out to him for just being dope and down-to-earth and sweet. All of that.”
See clips of the interview and the IG Live below.