Nicki Minaj goes back to basics, returns to rap on forthcoming album

Nicki Minaj has been slowly scaling back her large-than-life pop persona that once included alter-egos and outlandish costumes and wigs. She's parted with her longtime hairstylist, and on her Elle cover, she sported minimal makeup and some of her natural hair. Now, she says she is getting back to basics with her music as well.

"I went so far to the other side that there's only one place to go from there," Minaj told MTV News. "You can either continue doing costumes or you can just say, 'Hey guess what? This will shock them even more. Doing nothing will shock them even more.'"

For her third studio album, she says she is going back to her rap roots, as exemplified on "Lookin' Ass" and "Chi-Raq."

"The tracks on [my next album Pink Print] are back to my hip-hop roots. And I don't think it's something that I'm necessarily trying to do. As soon as I started working on my new album, that's just the songs that I've been writing."

She also teased that she will be dropping a new track next week that is nothing like "Lookin' Ass" or "Chi-Raq." She is looking to her gut for direction on the album moving forward. "I'm just gonna do what my heart tells me to do."

But don't expect another "Starships" or "Superbass." The Cash Money MC says "hell no" to doing pop-friendly tracks on her next effort.

The Pink Print is due out later this year, but you can see Minaj in the upcoming film The Other Woman, due out in theaters Friday.

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Nicki Minaj