Nicki Minaj received serious flack during the last few months regarding the creative direction of her career. However, the animated rapper refuses to heed the warnings issued by her critics and instead defended the increasingly Pop-oriented sound of her music.

Speaking to Funkmaster Flex about the polarised sound of her ‘Starships’ and ‘Roman Reloaded’ records, Minaj suggested that Hip-Hop fans who have made derisive remarks about her music are simply “afraid” of the increasing magnitude of her career. Yet, she remained adamant that she has thus far made the right decisions.

Read what Minaj had to say about her creative choices below:

I would hope that people know at this point that I’m smart enough to know what I’m doing. I always intended putting out something urban right after ‘Starship’ because I knew ‘Starship’ was a monster. I didn’t feel the pressure to be honest. I feel really, really good. I feel like Hip-Hop cares enough that they have something to say and I remember when I was hoping that somebody had something to say about me on the radio or cared enough. Maybe it would be a problem if I couldn’t deliver records like ‘Roman Reloaded’,  but I can. Once again,  I write my own lyrics so it’s never a problem. Whatever I feel … I can write and I can create it, so I’m good.

I think that people sometimes get blown away by the magnitude of the pop stuff because the pop stuff reaches every where. Then I feel like my Hip-Hop fans or Hip-Hop culture starts getting a little bit afraid that I’m going to leave but this is who I am. I’m not going to change.  I’ve just added on to my brand and if you don’t understand that then it’s probably why you don’t travel, you don’t see the world and I probably can’t even have a conversation with you anymore.

[Roman Reload] is not about anyone in particular. My fans, they’re voices are the loudest voices. A critic has never meant a thing to me and that’s why I keep winning. So we’re really good on this side Flex and ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded” drops April 3^rd and the Barbz and Romanz Empire will be good, really good.

Read more on Necole Bitchie.

What Minaj fails to grasp is that artists don’t make music for their fans. Rather, they aim to please their critics. Honestly, Minaj is still is a new artist and she does not have a core audience that will support her material regardless of its quality. For instance, ‘Stupid Hoe‘ grossly flopped because her “barbz” spent more time making it trend on Twitter than actually purchasing the track on iTunes.

There really is nothing wrong with an artist taking risks but Minaj is not at the stage in her career where she could do whatever she imagines, especially when her actions produce such shabby results. Perhaps Minaj will have to experience the shock of low album sales before she understands that.

Thoughts?