Nicki knew in advance that she was taking the Vanguard prize home, so she prepared her speech and wrote down the list of people she was grateful to.
She had a list of the people who inspired her and of the people who lifted her up and gave her opportunities. Eminem was in the latter one.
Here are the things that I jotted down, and I want to say it because I never end up saying anything planned. So, I want to take a second to just say “Thank you” to all of the people that inspired me and who, I think, inspired my flow: Lil Wayne, Foxy Brown, Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z, Slick Rick, Dougie Fresh. And then I wrote people who gave me huge opportunities that I’ll never forget: Kanye West, Beyonce, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Britney Spears, Rihanna and all my Caribbean people.
Nicki finished with a plea to take mental health seriously and paid respect to music stars who had left us too early: from Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston to Juice WRLD and Nipsey Hustle.
Nicki Minaj is one of the few female rappers who has not even one but two joints with Eminem. He recorded a verse for “Roman’s Revenge” from Nicki’s 2010 album “Pink Friday”, and then, eight years later, he worked with her on “Majesty”, released on the 2018 album “Queen”. Back then, Nicki said in the interview with DJ Whoo Kid:
Can we acknowledge that [Eminem’s verse] that’s like one of the best rap verses we’ve heard in years? Like, oh my god, like I was so freaking stunned when I got that back. I just sat there for a long time, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do nothing, I was just like, “yo, he murdered”. It was like another level because lately, you don’t see rappers doing that because they don’t feel like they have to anymore, but you know, back at—one time rappers wanted to impress lyrically, now rappers wanna impress by going on Instagram and doing a rant, you know.
Watch Nicki Minaj accepting the Video Vanguard Award at the 2022 VMAs:
