Nicki Minaj admitted she wants to be a role model for black women and give them ‘confidence’ due to their lack of representation in the music industry.

The rapper, 39, spoke about how she felt she wasn’t ‘good enough’ growing up because she didn’t see black women on the covers of magazines and on-screen.

She said she wants to ’empower’ young girls to believe that they don’t need ‘a guy for anything’ as she spoke to i-D magazine while fronting their Winter 2022 Issue.

‘There’s always been a lack of representation for Black women – as soon as you start becoming famous, you owe it to the entire culture to say things that other Black women can repeat to make themselves feel great,’ she told the publication.

‘When you grow up and you’re only seeing people that look a certain way on the covers of magazines, in the movies and on TV, you can start feeling, ‘Am I not good enough?”

Nicki went on to say that hearing young women singing her lyrics makes her want to give them ‘confidence’ and help them realise they can do whatever they want to.

The Superbass hitmaker also addressed ‘misconceptions’ around her personality because she is ‘outspoken’, saying she feels it is important to speak out on issues that matter to her.

She continued: ‘There’s a huge misconception with people who come across as outspoken, the misconception is that we’re so strong – just because a person fights back, doesn’t mean they’re not afraid.’

Nicki admitted she has suppressed some of her beliefs over the years due to having ‘reservations’ and being ‘fearful’ of losing her job.

However, she said she has now decided not to ‘give a s**t anymore’ and speak out on issues that matter to her because she has realised her fans will still support her.

Her poignant comments came as she posed up a storm in a sensational cover shoot for i-D magazine.

In one shot, Nicki flaunted her incredible curves in denim shorts and a sparkling vest top, which she teamed with platform heels.

She styled her dark tresses loosely in waves cascading across her shoulders and accentuated her striking features with a dramatic slick of eyeliner.

In another picture, she gave a flash of her abs in a cropped long-sleeved top and a figure-hugging maxi skirt, styled with strapped stiletto heels.

She also sported a stunning crown and a long-sleeved mini dress with a cinched waist as she struck a sultry pose in the show-stopping black and white shots.

It comes after Nicki spoke out in protest after a report that her single Super Freaky Girl will compete in the Grammys pop category, despite her submitting it as a rap song.

She took to Instagram Stories after source told The Hollywood Reporter that the Recording Academy’s rap committee denied her request for the track – which landed in the top spot upon its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this past August – to compete in the rap category.

‘They stay moving the goalposts when it comes to me, because in order for them to uplift the people who they want to shine,’ she said.

‘The people who these corporate giants can make the money off of; the people who control a lot of things behind the scenes – they have to elevate someone that they profit off. They must move the goalposts for me, all the time.’

She said ‘there is a concerted effort to give newer artists things that they really don’t deserve over people who have been deserving for many years,’ and that ‘soon, female rap will really not have any Black women’.

She continued: ‘This is not to say any song is bad or any female rapper is bad … but why is the goalpost only ever moved when it’s Nicki?’

Nicki said decision-makers in the industry don’t want artists they have a vested interest in to ‘go up against’ her.

‘What do you think is gonna happen when they start voting on these pop categories and its a bunch of these people … white and older, wherever they’re from,’ to have to choose between her and stars such as Adele and Harry Styles.

‘That’s purposely designed so that Nicki is not in the category that we don’t want any competition,’ she said.

Nicki said if Super Freaky Girl – which samples the 1981 Rick James song Super Freak – is classified as pop, then the Latto single Big Energy should be as well, especially since they have the same group of producers.

She has previously been nominated for Grammys 10 times, in the pop category one time for best pop duo/group performance for the collaboration Bang Bang with Ariana Grande and Jessie J. Most of her nominations have been in the rap category.

Read the full feature in i-D magazine.