Nicki Minaj on Gaying Up Hip-hop

Rapper Nicki Minaj tells Paper magazineshe didn't set out to be a gay-positive presence in hip-hop, but that's just what happened -- and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"I didn't set out to do that," she says. "I just like to put a spotlight on the people who support me, and it just so happens, you know, that the gay community has supported me -- more than I ever could have imagined."

Minaj says she considers her schooling at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (the Fame school) to be what opened her eyes to diversity and acceptance at an early age.

"I saw gay kids, I saw white kids, I saw grunge and pink hair and piercings," she says. "I think, because of that, I didn't put limits on myself or what I was going to put in my raps. I really just wanted to be diverse."

Read the full interview with Minaj here.