There’s no point pushing Nicki Minaj somewhere she doesn’t want to go. More than anyone in the industry, she will stamp right back on your toes and deliver a look that slays people where they stand. Ask Miley.

In a cover interview out today, she is questioned about the beef between Meek Mill (her boyfriend) and Drake (her labelmate and friend). Never before has Minaj spoken about said beef. “Is there a part of you that thrives on drama, or is it no, just pain and unpleasantness," the New York Times Magazine writer, Vanessa Grigoriadis, asks. According to Grigoriadis, “The room went quiet, but only for an instant.”

Nicki answers, leaving the interviewer – by her own admission – wishing the question had never hit the air. “That’s disrespectful,” Minaj said, drawing herself up in the chair. “Why would a grown-ass woman thrive off drama?”’

It didn’t stop there. “That’s the typical thing that women do,” she continued. “What did you putting me down right there do for you? Women blame women for things that have nothing to do with them. I really want to know why — as a matter of fact, I don’t. Can we move on, do you have anything else to ask?’’

She continued: ‘‘To put down a woman for something that men do, as if they’re children and I’m responsible, has nothing to do with you asking stupid questions, because you know that’s not just a stupid question. That’s a premeditated thing you just did.’’ 

According to the piece, Nicki then called the interviewer “rude” and “a troublemaker” and said, “do not speak to me like I’m stupid or beneath you in any way”, finishing with “I don’t care to speak to you anymore.”

To her credit, the interviewer doesn’t try to hide the confrontation. Instead, she apologises and prints the exchange in full. But the damage was done.

Reminder to self: choose words carefully when you’re talking to Nicki Minaj.