Nicki Minaj admitted she was “buggin” when she turned down T-Pain’s request for a collaboration.
There’s no doubt about it, T-Pain is a highly-sought out artist when it comes to collaborations. Throughout his career, he’s worked alongside the likes of Jamie Foxx, Chris Brown, and most recently, Kehlani, but there’s one desired collab that unfortunately never came to fruition. During a recent interview with “The 85 South Show,” the well-renowned producer opened up about the time Nicki Minaj turned down his request to appear as a feature on one of his songs.
According to Pain, he reached out to Nicki back in 2007 when she was still an up-and-coming artist in the game. He said she was initially down to record a few bars but eventually got tied up trying to complete her own project.
”We was about to work together, and she stopped responding, and I was like, ‘Nick, let me know what’s going on,’” he said. “She was like, ‘Hey, I’m an artist too, and I’m working on my shit… Baby, chill.’ And I was like, ‘Oh… My heart.’”
“Maybe I was in love with Nicki Minaj,” he added.
While the occurrence appears to be fresh in Pain’s memory, Nicki couldn’t quite believe that she’d turned down an opportunity to work with the producer who “was already a really big artist” at the time.
“I don’t remember this AT ALL, but it DEF sound like smthn I would say,” she wrote. “Omg, what was I thinking? He was already a really big artist. I was still underground. Chileeeeee, I used to b buggin yo. I was under so much pressure to deliver.”
Despite her decision, Nicki professed her love and respect for T-Pain’s talent. She also thanked him and Kanye West for clearing the sample to “Go Hard” for the re-release of her Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape, noting his performance on the record taught her a lot about harmonies and background vocals. “Your vocals on that song alone are GOATED for life. I listened to every single detail.”
Look below to see the clip from T-Pain’s interview and Nicki’s ensuing response.