...Because I Love It

What can women get away with in hip-hop that men can't?
I have a lot of freedom to be crazy. I can rap in a London accent, make weird faces, wear spandex, wigs, and black lipstick. I can be more creative than the average male rapper. And I can show my boobs. Guys can't do that.

You sign your fans' breasts at shows. Do their boyfriends get jealous?
If anything, boys are telling me to sign their girls' boobs. I've gone through 15 markers in a single night—because the girls are usually sweating, and a marker will stop writing if the girls are wet.

As an openly bisexual rapper, do you think hip-hop is getting more gay-friendly?
I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it's harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced. People view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we'll see one in my lifetime.

Having studied theater in high school, what would you say is the difference between rapping and acting?
With me, there really isn't one. I look at rap as an opportunity to act. My head is full of different characters—in each song I'm auditioning a character.

Q: On Twitter you follow a bunch of Nicki Minaj fan groups. Ever get tired of reading so many tweets about yourself?
A: Hell no! It says a lot that someone took the time to dedicate a page to me. And it's useful. Anything I do, they post a link to it right away. I don't need to Google myself.

Have you seen the YouTube video where Michelle Trachtenberg raps one of your verses?
She's the cutest thing. I just wanted to reach into the computer and kiss her. I might have to get her on a track.

Your father set fire to your home when you were a kid in Queens, New York. What happened?
He drank a lot and did drugs, and he would get violent when he did. When he set fire to the house, he was attempting to kill my mother. She got out before it burned all the way down. I've always had this female-empowerment thing in the back of my mind—because I wanted my mother to be stronger, and she couldn't be. I thought, "If I'm successful, I can change her life."

As younger and younger fans come to your shows, do you feel pressure to tone down the racier elements of your persona?
I do. I'm a role model now. I didn't know I was gonna have 13-year-old fans, so I've tried to change a few things here and there. But I also know that the girls don't want me to be Miley Cyrus, either.

Q: Are you going to send your mentor Lil Wayne a gift while he's in prison?
We were at a Jay-Z concert right before he went away, and he said, Yo, Nick, how come you never bring any bad bitches around with you? I said, My fault. I've got you next time! So I'll send him a poster of a bad bitch to put up in his cell.

Is it true that you're a big Enya fan?
Who doesn't love Enya? Whenever I'm in a trying time, she is the calm in the middle of the storm. If I put her on, I'll be in this crazy peaceful state. I love her style. And her harmonies are freaking genius.

You've rapped on songs for Usher, Mariah Carey, and Robin Thicke. How much do you charge for a cameo?
I get a handsome amount. I could definitely buy a car off one of my guest appearances. And I'm not talking about a Hyundai.

Last week, just two days after dropping out of Rihanna's "Last Girl On Earth Tour," Nicki Minaj's former manager, Debbie Antney -- who also managed Gucci Mane and is mother to up-and-coming rapper Waka Flocka Flame -- sent a statement confirming Minaj had fired her.

"I received a letter, which was [a] suspension. The next letter that came in was a cease and desist in doing all business with Nicki Minaj from Nicki's attorney," she explained. "I love Nicki. I wish her the most success. It's not about the music, she's like one of my children... I wish her no harm, only much success."

While hip-hop bloggers have speculated the firing was due to mismanagement on Antney's part which consequently caused Minaj to drop out of the tour, Antney revealed to Billboard.com almost a month ago -- before the tour was announced -- that she no longer was working with Minaj "I'm not gonna sit here and drop a bunch of bombs on her now, even though she really, really disappointed me. Now Nicki did fire me. She did," Antney said.

According to our source, Minaj subsequently went on to seek management from Troy Carter, Lady Gaga's manager. Although some websites claim to have confirmed that Carter is co-managing Minaj with Diddy, our source says it isn't the case and that Gaga pumped the breaks on the deal, threatening to find another manager if Carter took on Minaj as well. When that happened, Carter stepped back and Diddy stepped in, asking one of his own managers, James Cruz, to co-manage Minaj with him instead.

While Diddy's new connection with Nicki Minaj seems to have come out of left field, it comes as no surprise that he is also working closely with Rick Ross. The two have been appearing together often lately, including on the remix to Waka Flocka's "O Lets Do It" track. Diddy has also praised Ross' rapping skills in public as of late, comparing him to the late Notorious B.I.G. "Big shout out to my brother Diddy. We have a big announcement to make real soon, so stay tuned for that," Ross said on the airwaves during an interview with Power 105.1 DJ Envy earlier this week, alluding to an official announcement of the business move coming soon.

The partnership between the two is poised to go a step further as well; Ross is also rumored to be extensively contributing to the writing of Diddy's upcoming album.

There’s something about Chilli. Something that convinced us she was one of our girlfriends during her crazy, sexy, cool years with TLC. Something that had us all up in her relationship (and her breakup) with Mr. Raymond. She’s a girl’s girl. And she’s kept her cool, despite our imaginary probing into it all.

So maybe that’s why we’re so excited for her new reality television show, What Chilli Wants. Premiering this Sunday on VH1, we get to follow the Atlanta native find herself the made man — whether or not that exists we’ll see — as she works with relationship expert Tionna Smalls.

VH1 hasn’t had much luck finding love for their reality show stars, but this isn’t I Love New York revisited nor is Chilli giving us Rock of Love antics or Flavor of Love ignorance. “I made sure that the show was very classy. It’s totally different from some of the other dating shows. I’m not in a house with guys, and they don’t know each other,” Chilli assured us the other night at her Atlanta premiere party.

Chilli admits her dating life has been on hold for a bit. Between her singing career and motherhood, she let us know, “I don’t get out much, so this was a great opportunity.”

Insert Tionna Smalls, one of the craziest, most hilarious, unapologetic frank chicks you will ever have the pleasure of being snapped back into reality by. Smalls is in charge of clawing through the pickings for Chilli’s blind dates (nope, Chilli doesn’t pick any of her potential suitors), all while following her strict checklist: six packs are all good, but bacon biters can go that way.

Last year, when taping began, Chilli threw an event for her former classmate and the city’s current mayor, Kasim Reed. The crowd? Pretty young. We’re not mad at her. Especially because she isn’t a self-proclaimed cougar.

“I don’t [purposely date younger men]. It’s just that younger men are attracted to me. They came to the casting call.”

Whether or not they’re ready to be the man Chilli wants remains to be seen. But we did get her to dish about one of the guys on the show. He hails from Wisconsin and evokes giggles from Chilli, who can’t help but show teeth when asked about him.

“He’s very sweet and very comfortable with himself. I think every female wants a man that’s very complimentary. This guy made me feel like a woman. We all want that. We all need that. We all deserve that.”

The petite singer is open to all shades and believes that women , especially Black women, should never culturally limit themselves on the love front. “Men have the pick of the litter, so why shouldn’t we?” You can expect to see an assortment of colorful men on the show.

After having gone through the reality dating show machine, has Chilli found love? Of course she wouldn’t reveal that, but she did say that the experience solidified one thing. “I’m not getting rid of my list! ” referring to her requirements that a potential mate must meet.

However, she didn’t just put it all on the fellas, as she did drop this little gem for other women looking for love. “First of all, you have to start with yourself. Think about what it is that you can bring to the table. I’m not asking anyone to bring ‘all of this’ to the table and I have nothing to bring. I know what I can bring, so I don’t want to settle for less than anything less than I deserve. TLC has always been about encouraging women to love themselves and believe in themselves. This just kind of goes along with what I’ve always done in my career.”