Nicki Minaj has quite a few alter egos; Eminem has just one. And on the upcoming Pink Friday track "Roman's Revenge," Nicki's Roman Zolanski goes toe-to-toe with Em's Slim Shady."It was Roman and it was Slim Shady," she told MTV News' Sway while speaking in a British accent during her appearance on "RapFix Live."The real Slim Shady? "The real Slim Shady," she confirmed. "It was the most fun song on Pink Friday. It gave me life. Absolutely, darling."The track had long been in the works, she revealed. Swizz Beatz produced the number, and she held onto the track for months. The Queens femcee sent Eminem another record first in hopes of soliciting a collaboration with the Detroit superstar.
"We went out on a whim and put it in the air like, 'It'd be great if he would collaborate with us,' " Nicki Minaj said. "I remember I kept talking about it, and I thought, 'It can't hurt.' I sent him one record, and he didn't love it. He didn't say, 'I don't love it'; he just said, 'Can you send me something that's a little more me?' I sent him an e-mail and thanked him for that, just having enough respect. Sometimes people don't respond. He had the respect, at least, to treat me like a peer."
Eventually, Nicki revisited the Swizz track and completed the song. She wasn't sure if she wanted a feature on the track, because she thought the song was so good as it stood. After thinking it over, however, she decided to reach out to Em.
"He picked up the phone for that one," she said.
According to Nicki, the Recovery MC was extremely detailed about his plans. The two worked out a new chorus after clearance issues killed the first one. Then they wrapped the number, which features MTV News' 2010 Hottest MC in the Game and #6 on the list.
"Even right now, I'm in shock," she said of the collaboration.
