Throughout Nicki Minaj’s career, she's considered doing many things. But one thing she never thought she would do was to join a reality competition show. It was announced only a few weeks ago that the musician would be joining American Idol as one of the judges. While the show wasn't in Minaj's plans, she's planning to tackle it head on.
"It's a milestone for me; it's a milestone for hip-hop; it's a milestone for young black women," Minaj told MTV News. "Has there ever been a black woman [judging] on the show? This is a show that 20 million people watch so I feel like we should be represented on that show and I'm very proud of my decision to do it."
But just because Minaj is proud of her new position doesn't mean she didn't think it through carefully before saying yes.
"Of course I had doubts but I had to realize that my fears of doing the show came a lot from what I thought people would say," she said. "I had to really think and [realize that] a lot of decisions I've made in my career, people thought I was f---ing crazy and I made them, and I continue to make the hard decisions. I continue to make the decisions that people don't have the balls to make. And that's what separates me from everybody else."
In the end, she knows this is the right decision for her career. She also talked about how proud she is to be paving the way for others to follow in her path.
"I think that's where I am with it, just feeling with OK with me and my choices and not having to answer to anybody, because people will criticize you to the f---ing poorhouse. I'm very, very excited," she said.
Minaj is joining the judging table of American Idol along with current judge Randy Jackson and new judges Mariah Carey and Keith Urban.