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Nicki Minaj makes her debut as a judge on “American Idol” in January and it seems she wants to bury the hatchet with fellow judge Mariah Carey before then.
“[Mariah’s] been one of my favorite artists of all time since I can remember, so it’s weird that everything kind of, was blown up like that. It didn’t make me happy at all,” Minaj, 29, said today on “Good Morning America,” addressing the reports of feuding and friction between the two superstar judges.
The always colorful singer lauded praise on Mariah Carey’s legacy and vocals, but had no apologies about being her bold self at the judges’ table.
“I can’t take away what she’s done in my life and just in pop culture in general and just having one of the most amazing voices in the world,” Minaj said. “Having said that, I’m an adult and we are passionate on the set and sometimes when you’re a passionate woman, you know, sometimes it kind of ruffles other women’s feathers, but I’m going to continue to be Nicki Minaj.”
The electrifying singer said she wouldn’t consider herself a “tough judge,” but instead an honest one.
“I would consider myself an honest judge. That’s all I’m doing. I’ve said before, I want them to leave with the truth. I feel like the truth has always fueled me to get better. So sometimes criticism helps in order for you to go and like perfect your craft. And I think that’s what they want,” she said. “They’re not coming there for everyone to say, ‘Yeah, you’re great, you’re great, you’re great.’ They’re coming there for us to tell us how we feel and we represent the viewers at home.”
Minaj picked up two American Music Awards Sunday night for favorite Rap/hip-hop artist and Rap/hip-hop album, and took to the stage twice: first performing her single “Freedom” from her reissued album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded – The Re-Up,” and then singing a duet with the other big winner of the night, Justin Bieber.
Minaj said she was surprised to be asked to perform with Bieber, but said it was nerve-wracking because they didn’t get to do a full rehearsal together before hand.
“That was interesting,” she said. “We never really rehearsed it together. Everything was just so quick. I had rehearsals the day before so I had to go try on outfits and stuff like that, so when I got up there with him, I kind of felt like, OK, let’s make sure everything works and I get my cue when I walk out on time.”

Minaj said she loves performing at the AMAs and that there’s something about the show that sets it apart from other music award shows.
“I had such a good time. ….The [AMAs] always treat everyone so well and they make us feel so comfortable so when you go out on stage it just feels like a family atmosphere,” she said. “Something about the way they do it…it just feels way more comfortable and super cool.”
SHOWS: Good Morning America

Don’t call it a re-release. On a recent Sunday night, Nicki Minaj descended a staircase in one of San Antonio’s luxury resorts, dressed in sweats and Hello Kitty slippers and visibly beating back sleep — “My brain, it winds down like a computer,” she laughed as she struggled to put her first few thoughts together. The MC-cum-judge had just wrapped a grueling day of shooting “American Idol” at the city’s historic Sunset Station but when talk turned to her new album, Minaj was having none of this “re-release” talk.

Sure, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded the Re-Up includes seven tracks from her April disc, Roman Reloaded, but the multiplatinum rapper-cum-TV judge wanted to make it clear that sometime in between concocting her own fragrance, walking in MJ’s loafers and throwing diva shade at Mariah, she’d managed to record eight brand-new tracks … that have nothing to do with starships.

“I am in a stage right now, where that’s just how I feel,” she told MTV News, turning the word feel to “fill” in that Southside Jamaica, Queens way. “I’m on my rap sh– — that’s just how I feel right now. But I’m [also] saying that there’s nothing wrong with being diverse. [But] where I am right now? I’m back to my popping sh–!” she declared before cracking up into a contagious fit of laughter.

It turns out Young Money’s reigning first lady may have something to prove. Though she was adamant that she doesn’t “approval” or “limit” herself, Minaj sounded like an MC eager to remind fans that first and foremost, she’s, well, an MC. “The Re-Up is what I do naturally. It’s what I came into the game doing,” she emphasized. “So I actually don’t have the fears about it being critiqued. I guess when I started doing dance songs, then there was more like a question mark there, ’cause I had never done it.

“But the songs I’m doing on the Re-Up,” she continued, “I haven’t even gone into it thinking about criticism. I’ve already mastered [rap].” Now speaking in hushed tones, she softly scolded, “When people hear it, they will hear stuff that Nicki Minaj has already mastered. I don’t need approval on that.”

She may not need an OK from you, but there’s no doubt Minaj has heard the complaints from her O.G. Barbz who argue that she’s been swimming too many laps in the pop pool and needs to dive back into rapping. On Friday, Nicki dropped “High School,” a breezy track that finds her trading bars with her YMCMB boss, Lil Wayne. And on the introspective, low-tempo “Freedom,” she insists that her rap-and-radio domination was always written. “Oh sh–, my commercial’s on/ Did I really body bitches with commercial songs?/ Did I really prophesy everything I do?” she spits.

So while Minaj seems to have crafted the Re-Up for her hip-hop contingent, she won’t be forced into a box like some Barbie. “You wanna know what’s crazy about people who take risks?” she asked. “They don’t always get the praise but in the long run, they get the respect because most artists in this business are so petrified of thinking outside of the box that they will remain in one little box for their whole careers. And to each his own, but I feel like as women, we gotta dare to be different.”
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Even with all her career commitments, Nicki Minaj still finds time for charity work. Less than 24-hours after her double win at the American Music Awards Sunday (Nov. 18) night, Minaj jetted back to New York to hand out turkeys at her old elementary school.“The turkey giveaway actually is probably the thing I’m looking the most forward to, which is strange,” Minaj told Ryan Seacrest this morning.
Aside from hitting up her former school, the 29-year-old is busy promoting her just released, Pink Friday Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up album, which adds eight new songs and a 90-minute DVD, to the original installment.
On Tuesday Minaj will hold a fan meet-and-greet in support of her Pink Friday fragrance. “That’s so special,” she said of being able to go back to her hometown. “I did a fragrance release in Manhattan so to come to Queens and do it in my hometown, that’s going to be amazing.”
There will also be a limited edition fragrance to be released in time for the holiday shopping season.
Minaj also addressed her feud with Mariah Carey, which seems to hit a simmer point as of late. When asked about the possibility of doing a duet with the singer on American Idol she replied. “If she’ll have me, I’ll be here waiting.”