Nicki Minaj Details Lil Wayne Inspired Her Record Label: ‘I Understand the Importance of Having Somebody Else Doing the Heavy Lifting for You’

Nicki Minaj recently announced her new record label. Early details reveal Paddy Duke will be the first A&R on the label and will be genre-spanning. The label’s name hasn’t been announced yet, but Minaj did reveal the inspiration, Lil Wayne.

“When I came in this game I didn’t have no paperwork with Lil Wayne,” Minaj said. “But he had us on tour, he had us in a studio, he was getting on my mixtapes. So 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. 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.”

Fans with iOS who missed Queen Radio live can go to the Amp app to check out a replay of the episode now here. 

Over the weekend, Lil Wayne, the weekend’s special guest, brought out Nicki Minaj to perform a number of classics like “Super Freaky Girl,” “Truffle Butter,” and “High School” before closing off the Gopuff Stage for the evening.

You can see the full performance below.