Just about every hip-hop head, old and recent,
has an opinion on a certain heavy-banged, animated female rapper. Next
to share their thoughts on the ever-present Nicki Minaj?
One half of the best-selling female rap act, Sandra “Pepa”
Denton
.Pepa, who debuted her first Salt-n-Pepa album Hot,
Cool & Vicious in 1985, shared with VIBE her feelings on the
new, 25-year-old, pink-adoring rapper. “She reminds me of [Lil’
Kim]. Bold and you know… she’s young. And a lot of people are
like ‘Oh what do you feel about her because of the message?’, but to me
she hasn’t learned the message yet,” she says.
“[Salt-n-Pepa are] old in the game, we started out a little raw, so
after a little while I’ve learned and changed because my audience
changed. Kids started coming to my concert and I realized that I had
sense of responsibility. I was cursing in my shows, and then I started
seeing little kids and was like, ‘Oh what are they doing here?’ And
after a while I had to stop, I didn’t feel right.”
Minaj expressed to BET recently during a 2010 Spring Bling special
that though her shows are unconventional, uncensored, and filled with
signatured boobs, she’s attempting to find a balance between the older
audience she targets and her over-loyal younger fans.
Pepa says finding that audience balance is especially tough with a
male-dominated team, like Nicki’s Young Money crew.
“Not everyone’s role model material, but we do have a sense of
responsibility because kids listen more to us than they would their
parents. But [Nicki’s] young, so how’s she gonna enlighten?’ She’s new,
she’s excited and what happens when you have a male camp backing you?
Yeah, you might be singing those kinds of lyrics,” she says with a
laugh. “That’s what happens when you have a male camp dictating how you
should be.” Click here for the rest of the story.
