Planning and Research for my AS Courework

1. The mast head which is the title of
the news paper
As seen on the front
magazine, the main image is
Nicki Minaj which directly
passes the message that the
main story is about her.
Also, looking at the right side
of the image it drops a hint
about Nicki and Drake having
relationship problems.
Cover lines which are the secondary
stories. These stories help to sell the
magazine as people will also know
that other celebrities are involved

2. This Page of the magazine clearly and
concisely presents brief information
upon the articles giving summery of
what to come while still showing the
main article is about Nicki Minaj,
presented in a clear format its simple
style allows you to focus more on the
information provided than the gimmick
of the famous face.
It also drops a hint that the storyline
behind this image isn’t something very
exciting for the celebrity that is she
looks with a sadden face or heart
broken.

3. Nicki Minaj KING ME After bringing females rappers out of extinction, running the charts
and resurrecting a legion of Barbs, Nicki Minaj is now negotiating an identity between hiphop royalty and fashion. Will the real Nicki please stand up?--Clover Hope
In September 2011, the fashion world was invaded. During New York‟s Mercedes-Benz
Fashion Week, a photo of Nicki Minaj sitting front row—the equivalent of courtside—at a
Carolina Herrera runway show made the Web rounds. Nicki sported a blonde updo wig and a
top adorned with brightly colored pom-poms, a human version of the balloon-powered house
in Up. Seated next to the former street DVD queen who once re-created Lil‟ Kim‟s notorious
squat pose, an image of a very different kind: Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, sporting
her own stock uniform—frigid grill, bobbed cut and dark shades—arms folded in per- petual
disapproval. The juxtaposition of hip-hop‟s reigning queen and fashion‟s most feared
Svengali in discourse had music and fashion blogs babbling. And it happened again days later
at the Oscar de la Renta show. It was a big deal to all, but mostly to Nicki Minaj, who held up
her prize in a tweet to her then roughly 6 million followers. “Oscar De La Renta w/my date
Anna Wintour again” she tweeted. “Oscar is a very handsome man. So is Valentino. Tell ya
all about the collection in a bit!”
Four months later, an aggravated Nicki is holed up in a Los Angeles studio, on the phone,
roaring against any mention of the word “pop” in association with her art, addressing herself
in third person (“Nicki Minaj has been singing since her first mixtape,” she says). It‟s an
ongoing debate that stemmed from her 2010 crossover debut, Pink Friday. While she tried to
put the glittery Barbie persona and the ‟hood chick in equilibrium, the album had some
thirsting for more of the hardcore “put this pussy on your sideburns” Nicki Minaj of mixtapes
like 2006‟s The Come Up: The Carter Edition (the DVD led to her inking with Lil Wayne‟s
Young Money/Cash Money camp) and 2009‟s Beam Me Up Scotty. All featured hot bars and,
yes, an occasional singsongy lilt. To foresee her potential at that time to hawk M.A.C lipstick
lines, break records and morph into a sparkly real-life anime drawing, you‟d have to be an
A&R Nostradamus or some otherworldly Martian.
But now Nicki‟s star status is indisputable. She‟s the first female rapper to have seven records
on Billboard‟s Hot 100 singles chart (including “Your Love”). She‟s murdered multiple guest
verses (from Kanye West‟s “Monster” to Trey Songz‟s “Bottoms Up”) and toured with
Britney Spears. Goody-good- ies like Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez have rapped her girly
summer banger “Super Bass” in concert. And by the time you read this, Nicki may have won
the Grammy for Best New Artist.
Either way, she faces a new world of expecta- tions for her sophomore effort, Pink Friday:
Ro- man Reloaded. Which may explain why trying to interview Nicki post-Pink involves
excessive stalking and careening around roadblocks. (When her label mate Drake‟s name is
brought up, a rep listening incognito interjects, “Maybe that‟s a ques- tion for Drake. Nicki,
do you want to answer that?”) Her newly minted superstar status—and the scrutiny it
brings—may also explain why Nicki herself is extra vigilant with her words. With a promise
to return to “Mixtape Nicki” for this set, she refuses to acknowledge any deliberate pop ambitions. And you can feel Minaj rolling her eyes on the other line when asked just how much of
Roman Reloaded features the playful rap-sung tunes of her platinum debut, which made her
both a crossover rap phenom and fashion‟s urban it girl. “When I say „Mixtape Nicki,‟ it
means not censoring myself and not caring what anyone thinks,” she tells VIBE via phone.
“That has nothing to do with pop. You can do a pop song that doesn‟t censor yourself.”

4. So far, on the road to Roman Reloaded, she‟s dropped two singles—“Stupid Hoe”
and “Roman in Moscow”—that showcase her rappity-rap alter ego Roman Zolanski
and reawaken her game-of-thrones match with Lil‟ Kim. But the 27-year-old MC will
tell you quite forcefully, in a way that makes you feel like a queen‟s minion, that
neither pop nor rap defines her, and that her artistic direction is no longer up for
debate. “I refuse to define what I do,” she says. “You‟ll feel it. It‟s more of an
experience than a genre. They‟ll have to create a new genre for this. You can‟t put it
into a genre that‟s out now. You absolutely can‟t.”
VIBE: It’s got to be hard to be a perfectionist this time around when you’re
trying to meet a deadline.
Nicki Minaj: Actually, I‟m writing 10 times quicker than I wrote on the first album
because I‟m a lot more confident in who I am. We‟ve just been trying to pace things
so that the album comes out at the right time. The music is pretty much done, but we
may hold the album back a bit so that things are done perfectly as opposed to being
rushed, in terms of promotion.
What made you more confident?
I don‟t know, probably a collection of different things. I couldn‟t really sum it up into
one thing. I just know that I‟m having a lot more fun this time.
You’ve said before that you didn’t really have fun recording Pink Friday.
I felt like I had something to prove to everyone who said a female rapper could not
make an album unless she was talking about her pussy. And so I went above and
beyond to prove that I could not talk about sex and not talk about my genitalia and
still have a successful album. And I proved that. And now my time for proving things
to my critics is over. I don‟t really need to prove anything to anyone else anymore.
How has he changed with Take Care? Do you feel like he’s gotten more
confident, become more of a tough guy?
I really don‟t think Drake has changed musically. Take Care is a continuation of
Thank Me Later. I don‟t really feel that it‟s a leap. His core fans are getting what they
love from Drake.
Do you guys talk about how you’re handling fame?
We speak about it all the time, yeah.
What’s the greatest advice that you’ve given him and that he’s given you?
[Laughs] I told him recently to go back to his clean-cut look. I always tell him what I
think girls are going to like. We have a couple laughs about it and keep it moving. In
terms of image, whenever I wear my black hair, he‟s so happy. He‟s like, “Yo, that‟s
how I want you to look.” We have more indepth conversations about the business,
but those are confidential.
Is it still hard to get your way as a woman in this industry?
It‟s not hard to get your way when it‟s your way or the highway. People either follow
suit or they‟re not around. I don‟t really like the sound of that, „cause that sounds like
a temper tantrum. I‟m just very black and white when it comes to my business.
There‟s really no gray area. I really don‟t have a lot of small talk with people I work

5. with. It‟s pretty much let‟s get the job done. In the beginning, if people didn‟t know me
they‟d probably assume I wasn‟t smart or wasn‟t business savvy. But once you sit
and talk to me, it‟s a different story.
You seem kind of intimidating.
I would say that people are cautious of the way they come at me. I‟m just about my
business. So when I meet people, it doesn‟t mat- ter how big of a celebrity they are, I
maintain who I am. I maintain respect for myself. So I very rarely come across
anyone who disrespects me, because I respect myself. I don‟t go around acting in a
way that people would ever get it twisted with me. If that means they‟re intimidated
by me, then so be it. I‟d rather people be intimidated than be too comfortable.
But the major criticism was that the album was too pop, more singing than
rapping.
I‟m very happy I made that choice.
Has the success of Pink Friday validated that you know what you’re doing?
I think I had the most growth outside of Pink Friday. My features really gave me the
most confidence, because I used the features to play around a lot. Once I‟m having
fun, the lyrics are the simplest thing to come up with.
Drake has had a war of words with common. Does Drake have more of a target
on his back now?
All I know is that Drake is extremely talented and he‟s very smart. I don‟t think people
realize how intelligent he is, so some things are… It‟s fun. Some things are hip-hop,
and that‟s what it is. If he does have a target on his back it‟s because he‟s extremely
successful and he makes music people can relate to.
Publisher: Len Burnett