Nicki Minaj Admits To Being "Better Than Most Of The Male Rappers Out"

Nicki Minaj says she doesn't receive the credit she deserves as a rapper, blames it on an industry run by men.

Young Money rapper Nicki Minaj didn’t shy away from speaking on her lyrical side during an exclusive interview with “MTV First” and even referred to herself as being “better than most of the male rappers out there.”

The Queens emcee, who also moonlights as a judge onAmerican Idol, blamed the lack of credit she receives as a rapper on Hip Hop being an industry that’s heavily dominated and run by men.

“This time I care less about the acceptance and more about me being the lyrical, ill bitch that I am. Knowing that I am lyrically better than most of the male rappers out there,” Minaj explained in a video posted on AllHipHop.com. “Yes, I’m gonna say it. I don’t get the credit that I deserve. Like ‘Up In Flames’ on The Re-Up. If a dude was on that song with me everyone would have talked about it and they would say ‘Oh, who had the best verse?’ or ‘Blah Blah blah.’ But when I put a song out by myself…Men run the Hip Hop game, let’s be honest…They not gonna recite a female. They just feel funny and it is what it is.”

Minaj’s comments on her lyrical skills stemmed from a question regarding the pressure she feels as an artist who rose to icon-status in such a short period of time.

“I think I had more pressure during my second album. Because I had just sold 2.5 million records worldwide after eight years of [being] a female rapper. Even having a number one on Billboard,” said the rapper prior to her comment about today’s male rappers. “So I had all these things in my head like, ‘Can I live up to this?’ It’s just I felt so bombarded with everything people were expecting.”

Nicki Minaj is currently at work prepping for her third studio album.