Nicki Minaj has helped pave the way for female rappers, but she claims she’s also played a huge part in today’s stan culture. Speaking to Vogue at its Forces of Fashion event Wednesday, she said she was the first rapper to give her fan group a name.
“Before I had a record deal, my fans were making a moment for themselves on Twitter. I had already given them a name,” she said. “When I started calling my fans the Barbz, there were no rappers naming their fans. There were only two people at that time, and I don’t know which came first — Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, they had Beliebers and Monsters. That was it!”
“Now, every single human being that becomes an artist gives their fans a name,” Nicki continued, adding her reaction. “I was like, ‘Woah.’ I didn’t think it was something that would spread to the hip-hop community at all. But it doesn’t matter because the Barbz are still superior.”
The Barbz have been supporting Nicki since day 1, most recently helping her Pink Friday 2 tour become the highest-grossing tour for a female rapper. “I feel very grateful. I have a very close knit relationship with my fans, and they went very hard for me. Their emotion and passion always does something to me,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to have the highest anything, to be honest — I didn’t even know that I was in the running. But even if I didn’t have that, I would still be so grateful, because the time that I’ve spent with the Barbz at these shows has been healing for me.”
She added, “They said it was healing for them and their inner child, but it was healing for something within me, as well.”
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