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Nicki Minaj doesn’t have to prove her success to anyone and her status as a chart-topping woman rapper should solidify that stance. In a new interview, the Queens superstar is happily single and says that the lack of romance in her life has allowed her to focus on her upcoming album, Queen.

In a wide-ranging cover-story interview with ELLE, the 35-year-old artist dished on a lot of topics and considered herself an exhibitionist while grappling with what that means to her millions of adoring fans. Further, the interview, which flips between traditional Q&A to free-flowing prose, proves that Minaj is still trying to find herself despite the fame and with the weight of being an iconic sex symbol while still fighting for respect in a field that may not see her worth as a lyricist.

ELLE writes:

Nicki is now in her midthirties, and from the age of 15 until just last fall, she has always had a serious boyfriend. “Six years, twelve years, three, four,” she says. Over time, this came to have consequences she didn’t anticipate.

“I remember feeling like I could do anything at one time in my life,” she says, “and somewhere along the line, I just started second guessing myself, for whatever reason.” That all ended when she started learning how to sleep alone. “As soon as I realized that I could actually live and breathe, and eat and sleep, and walk and talk without having a boyfriend, something clicked in me.”

“Becoming single,” she goes on, “was one of the things that made me feel strong and powerful. The fact that I am a young woman who doesn’t need a man for money. I don’t need a man for a job. I’ve never had to f*ck for beats. I’ve never had to f*ck for a record deal. I don’t have those pressures. I get up when I want, shop when I want.”

Other highlights of the interview include the legal issues of her ex-boyfriend Meek Mill, beef with Cardi B, and maybe even throwing shots via music in today’s all-eyes-on-me culture.

Check out the full interview here.

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Photo: Getty

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