One day after she was slandered by Hot 97 host, Peter Rosenberg, Nicki Minaj spoke out about the debacle. The Young Money rapper was scheduled to headline the station’s Summer Jam yesterday, but canceled after Rosenberg dissed her “Starships” single. Minaj called Funkmaster Flex Monday (June 4) to get a few things off her chest.
Flex aired the un-edited phone conversation (listen to the audio below courtesy of Rap Up), and Minaj didn’t mince words about feeling disrespected by Hot 97. “The reference was more than just about ‘Starships,’ it also referenced bulls**t, it referenced ‘real’ Hip-Hop. So you can continue because that needs to be said, go ahead,” she started. “What happened was this, my fans didn’t appreciate his comment, my fans at Summer Jam didn’t appreciate his comments, nor did my fans who were watching the live stream. This was not about 2,000 people that he was talking to , this was streaming to the world.”
Although Flex apologized for Rosenberg’s timing, he also blasted Minaj for suggesting that the diss was a form of sexual discrimination. According to the rapper, she had no intentions of not performing, but was following Wayne’s order.“No one would’ve even known that I had a problem with any of this because, let me tell you something, I am not a quitter. I don’t back down from anything , but Wayne gave me a very valuable lesson last night on knowing my worth. Wayne got me in this game, Wayne is the one who co-signed me to the rap world. I can’t believe after all these years, he’s still teaching me, after a man goes on stage and disrespects me, and trying to rile people up against me, and I still was going on that stage, and you know what? Shame on me! ”
Oddly enough, despite the fact that his co-worker made a similar move, Flex took issue with the fact that Minaj took the argument to a public forum (her Twitter page). “When you went to Twitter and did that, we felt like you were making an issue, and you were trying to play us,” he explained. “You took it past Rosenberg.”
Minaj landed a serious jab in the war of words when she broke down her stats, in response to Flex’s quip that she was upset over the low sales of her second album, at which point he admitted “I like your albums.” She also referenced Lauryn Hill’s support of her choice not to take the stage.
By now the whole thing should be water under the bridge, but if nothing else, the exchange was definitely entertaining.
