In his new Billboard digital cover story written by Carl Lamarre, the veteran rapper shares why he mentored artists like Pop Smoke and DaBaby, and what he thinks of today’s rising hip-hop artists.

“I only like the ones that I see myself in. A lot of the other sh-t, I be like, ‘Yeah, what the f–k is this, man?’ I’ve got to believe them and the sh-t they’re saying to be into the artist. They [also] have to want to be mentored. I’ll talk to them and touch base with them because I see that in them. You go, ‘Yo, you have to focus on what you came for and what’s important to you, and get those things together versus just riding it out.’”

The multi-hyphenate also brought up Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, saying: “The way I had competitive energy: Hip-hop culture makes you battle. I love Nicki Minaj, but the funny sh-t is, I like watching her when she’s upset. I like that because she has something that comes from the experience of living in South Jamaica. I’m looking at it like, ‘Yo, I know they think she’s nuts, but they only think that because they don’t understand.’ I get it. She thinks you’re trying to play her.”

“When Cardi B came, I thought she was dope,” he continued. “She’s from the bottom. She was in Club Lust in Brooklyn. [Going] from that and actually making a hit record and turning into who she did? I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t like to see that. It felt like she got everything — married, the baby — it came really fast. That’s the American dream right there.”

Tensions between Minaj and Cardi B began in 2017. Things turned physical a year later when their entourages clashed and the “Bodak Yellow” rapper got into an altercation with a close friend of Minaj’s while they all were at a Harper’s Bazaar New York Fashion Week event.

That same week, 50 Cent took it upon himself to comment on their beef. While online footage showed Tekashi69 dancing to Minaj’s music in the club, the DJ abruptly switched to “Bodak Yellow” saying, “I’m sorry Nicki, I’m team Cardi B on this side.” Knowing 69 released “Fefe,” his collab featuring Minaj earlier that year, 50 wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post, “No @djspinking that’s female sh-t stay out of that, now Nicki gonna get mad at 69 for turning up, trust me she on her South Side sh-t.”

“When her and Nicki clash, I go, ‘Oh, sh-t, it’s going to be interesting to watch how it plays out,’” 50 said in his cover story. “Lyrically, I won’t say anything competitively about the two of them, but I love Nicki. I don’t have anything against Cardi. I think anyone who comes now, she is going to check their temperature. Nicki is going to check if this b—h is friendly or looking to take over the sh-t.”

Rapper Nicki Minaj Targeted With False Shooting Report

Nicki Minaj was reportedly the target of a swatting call on Wednesday night when law enforcement swarmed her $19.5M Hidden Hills home in the San Fernando Valley due to an alleged ‘shooter.’

An unidentified caller alerted the LA County Sheriff’s Department – not 911 – at 7:05pm to report an assault with a deadly weapon by ‘a friend’ that ‘shot a female Black adult’ with two other possible black-clad suspects in the area – according to the LA Times.

However, no one was at the eight-bedroom mansion located inside a posh gated community when deputies arrived as the 42-year-old hip-hop star was ‘not even on the West Coast at the time of the incident’ – according to TMZ.

It was the third time in two years Nicki’s LA-area property was swatted after a caller lied about someone getting shot there in July 2023 and another caller lied about her child being abused in June 2023.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Minaj’s (born Onika Maraj) rep for comment on the incident.

The 12-time Grammy nominee is currently embroiled in a civil lawsuit brought on by her ex ‘day-to-day manager’ for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Brandon Garrett – whom Nicki’s attorney Judd Burstein dubbed an ‘ex assistant’ – accused her of hitting him in the face and wrist following her concert at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI on April 20, 2024.

Minaj’s rep called the lawsuit ‘completely false and frivolous’ and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office denied an arrest warrant request from the Detroit Police Department in January due to ‘insufficient evidence.’

On October 20, the LØCI collaborator and her husband Kenneth Petty celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, and they’re parents of a four-year-old son publicly known as ‘Papa Bear.’

The 47-year-old ‘music industry professional’ previously served three years probation for failing to register as a sex offender in California.

Nicki was only 16 when she first met Kenneth, who served a combined 11 years in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl in 1995 and shooting a man to death in 2002.

Minaj – who gets 45.3M monthly listeners on Spotify – concluded her $108.8M-grossing, 79-date Pink Friday 2 World Tour on October 11.