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Nicki Minaj is in love with her December/January Complex Magazine cover and we have to admit, we are too. The “Pinkprint” rapper looks fierce dressed in a futuristic metallic skirt and bra with lustrous red pumps. Not to mention, her boobs are sitting, hunty.

Nicki, who’s gearing up for the release of her junior album on December 15, dishes on an array of topics ranging from, family guilt to having a baby by the time she drops her fifth album.

“My family, loss, death, guilt…. I’ve struggled with a lot of guilt,” Nicki revealed during the candid sit down. “When you’re working and you’re busy and you’re successful, no matter what, something suffers, whether it’s your relationship with your mother, your relationship with your whole family, not being able to go to your brother’s graduation…. Certain things suffer and take the back burner, not because they’re on the back burner in your heart but because the world just moves so quickly. A lot of people, when they’re chasing their dreams, they have to leave people they love. A lot of artists feel that guilt but they don’t express it.”

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She added, “I feel like I’m the voice of reason in my family and I’ve always taken control and tried to lead and tried to be the one to help my family stay on the right path. When I’m not there, and something doesn’t work out, I always think to myself, “If I was there, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Hip-hop enthusiasts have already compared Nicki’s forthcoming album to Jay Z’s classic opus  “The Blurprint,” but Nick reassures us that she only referenced Jay’s “Blueprint” title, not his lyrical content.

“People keep asking me about Jay’s The Blueprint and they think I’m doing something like that. I made reference to The Blueprint because Jay is the biggest rapper of our time. The name of the album was inspired by Jay but not the body of work. I do think that it’s going to create new rules, though, in [the way] that [The Blueprint did].

Nicki declared that she is more comfortable in her skin and will never judge herself for what she does.

“One rule is ‘no more self-judgment,’ she said. “I’m not judging myself; I’m not dissing what I do. I’m proud of what I’ve done and I’m proud of what I’m working on. I’ve accomplished something and I’m not going to be ashamed to be happy about what I’ve done. I’m talking about things that I didn’t speak about on other albums. It’s a truthful body of work. The album is me doing a press conference, addressing things and not putting too much [emphasis] on “This has to be lyrical,” to the point where I lose focus of a message. It’s important as a woman to be vulnerable and be strong at the same time. The album is a dope balance of vulnerability and strength, of inspiration and of not being politically correct. It’s the best of both worlds. It’s tapping into both sides. There are times when all I want to do is be lyrical and create metaphors and experiment with my flow. Then there are times when I just want to tell a truthful story about love and have people identify with me.”

You may not remember, but in 2012, Nicki said, “In five years, ideally, I’d like to be married and have kids.” So after five years, is she ready to retire and settle down?

“I won’t use the word ‘retire’ but I would use the word ‘vacation’—because I don’t believe in vacations, I don’t believe in holidays. I have to put out all six of my albums, contractually. After the fifth, I’ll probably have my baby. I wonder if I’m going to be one of those women who balances my child with a career. I always said, “When I have my baby, it’s going to be all about my baby.” I don’t want the child feeling like they don’t have all of my attention, so I always said, ‘I’m going to take a little break.’ But we’ll see.”

She added,

“If I’m done with my fifth album and I don’t have a child by then, no matter how much money I have, I would be disappointed, as a woman, because I feel like I was put here to be a mother. I have definitely put off the wife thing because I don’t want people in my business. I’d rather not do anything that’s going to be on paper but I definitely will be married before I have my baby. I want to make sure I do it in that order. I’ve always felt like that since I was young; my mother always put that in my head. By the fifth album, I will have walked down the aisle and I will at least be on baby number one, possibly baby number two. [Laughs.] And have $500 million.”

Watch this behind the scenes video from the shoot:

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