Nicki Minaj calls out fashion magazines for celebrating white artists, such as Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga, for dyeing their hair bright colors when she's been asked 'not to wear pink hair'

• In a "Joe Budden Podcast" interview, Nicki Minaj discussed feeling excluded from fashion magazines.
• She said she was asked to remove her pink hair for covers, while other celebs weren't.

On a podcast episode released on Wednesday, Nicki Minaj sat down with the rapper and media personality Joe Budden for a follow-up to their explosive pair of 2019 conversations. During their latest conversation for "The Joe Budden Podcast," Minaj spoke about her experience of feeling excluded from the fashion industry as a Black female rapper.

"Everybody knew me for wearing pink wigs," she told Budden during the discussion, at around the 54-minute mark.

"You would think the biggest female rapper of all time, who has set so many trends, would have been on the cover of American Vogue, but she hasn't," she said, referring to herself.

Minaj specifically called out fashion magazines for celebrating white artists, such as Billie Eilish, for setting fashion trends like colored hair, which Minaj has been known for doing for years. She said Eilish was "immediately put on American Vogue" with her green hair.

Minaj said she was asked not to wear her signature pink hair on magazine covers, and that she was instead displayed as a "stripped down" version of her colorful persona.

"They would always ask me not to wear pink hair. But I would see Katy Perry on the cover with pink hair, and I would see Lady Gaga on the cover with pink hair. I came in the game wearing pink hair," she said.

Minaj doesn't fault Eilish or Vogue's editor in chief, Anna Wintour, for the difference in how she says she's treated by fashion magazines

Minaj didn't fault Eilish during the conversation for receiving her "shine" and said she was a fan of the "Bad Guy" singer.

"They're gonna say, 'Yeah, she put that on the map,' whether she put that on the map or not," Minaj said of Eilish. "She's successful. She's beautiful. She's got everybody wearing a certain hairstyle — I know I love her, and when she does do these covers, they're beautiful."

She explained why she thought it was important to comment on the disparity. "The reason why you gotta mention it, y'all, is because when we don't mention it, we are erased. They act like it didn't happen," she said. She and Budden then drew comparisons to Black musicians who "died poor," while others were credited for styles they innovated.

"People have to pay attention to what they're doing and how they're representing Black artists and Black people," she continued.

During the conversation, Minaj also advocated for another trendsetting rapper. "The same way I feel like I already should have been on the cover of American Vogue, so should Lil' Kim — if we keeping it all the way 1,000," she said.

She said her issue wasn't with American Vogue's long-standing editor in chief, Anna Wintour, who has drawn criticism for the publication's lack of diversity. "Anytime I've ever met Anna Wintour, she has been so gracious to me," Minaj said.

She clarified that her critique was directed at those who were "at that table with" Wintour when she made creative choices.

"It's your responsibility to wave the flag. You don't just put it on another face and another person," Minaj added.

Listen to Minaj's full conversation with Budden below.

The Joe Budden Podcast · 'A Conversation with Nicki Minaj and Joe Budden'