During a sitdown interview on The Joe Budden Podcast, Nicki Minaj cleared the confusion about her attitude toward female rappers.

The rapper dropped her fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, on Dec. 8. To promote the Young Money signee’s latest release, she recently sat down with Budden, a critic, to discuss the album and her view on hip hop today.

Nicki seized the moment to give her two cents on the current state of hip-hop, starting with reiterating Juicy J’s comments about how hip-hop used to be the preeminent genre but decreased by 40%. 

“I predicted that,” she said. “Remember the gatekeeping convos. Well, if you let everybody into the f—g gate…guess what? One day, you wake up, and there’s nothing but a pile of s**t ’cause everybody’s ‘eating.’ There’s no balance. There’s no gatekeeping.”

The 41-year-old took jabs at the industry, proclaiming they accepted anyone as a rapper, lying about how “great” they were, resulting in the genre’s current “s**t” state.

“‘You’re great!’ No, they’re wack, and that’s okay,” she bluntly stated.

She then said she wasn’t talking about all female rappers but new rappers. Budden then jumped in and conveyed that her latest record comprised her claiming these “new b***hs” can’t rap.

“New rappers are taking it as a game. As a joke,” she articulated. “They can’t [rap]. There’s a difference.”

Budden inquired if she believed individuals expect “the modern female rappers” to write, deliver and execute their own bars flawlessly; Nicki responded with a firm “No. Not prior to Dec. 8, 2023,” the release date of Pink Friday 2.

Nicki stopped and collected her thoughts before driving the conversation on female rappers on a safer route.

“And there’s a lot of female rappers that I really, really, really, actually love,” she shared. “Like, as an artist and as a person. And what I don’t want this to turn into honestly, even though I like being funny and stuff, I don’t want this to turn into bashing female rappers, to be honest. So, let me reel back for a second.”

The 41-year-old conversed about how multiple female rappers inspired her.

“It’s female rappers right now that are even inspiring me,” the 12-time Grammy nominee said. “Like, I’d hear bars and like, ‘Oh, woah.’ So, let me make sure I say that. And even their delivery and cadence and flows…I be like, ‘Woah.’ And the girls that I like as a friend too. So, I don’t want to make it seem like that…”

Budden reminded her how she gave flowers to those who inspired her.

“Yeah, the women that inspired me before and the girls that I like that now are in the game that inspires me,” she said. “So, I just wanted to make sure I got that clear. So, when I say stuff about rappers or female rappers, I’m not talking about the female rappers I f—k with. And that’s just the truth, and I’m keeping it all the way real.”

In other words, Nicki isn’t really a fan of the newer rappers and believes the hip-hop industry is too watered down. But she affirmed it was both female and male rappers.

“There’s tons of horrible, wack men in rap and don’t take it serious and think it’s a joke. It’s not only for women. It’s not only the women that brought us down to 40%,” she said.