(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Nicki Minaj has lost contact with her old group of friends because she wanted to feel free.

The Trinidadian rapper is emerging as a fresh new talent in America, but revealed she hasnt always enjoyed personal success in life.

The 26-year-old has admitted that she once struggled to know who she really was, because she spent time with the wrong people.

Nicki went onto divulge that when she first started to perform her lyrics, she felt under pressure to prove herself.

"When I first started rapping, I felt like I had to be someone," she said. "Everybody was telling me, 'Be this way. You're from Queens, be hard.' But, that wasn't really me, that's not who I wanted to be. When I changed the people who were around me, I just started being free, and I was like, you know what, I've always been animated, I've always been crazy."

The vocalist recently released her album Pink Friday which is already causing controversy because of the fiery lyrics contained within it, particularly on the track Romans Revenge.

The artist appears to lash out at someone who is jealous of her, widely speculated to be fellow female rapper Lil Kim.

However the star was keen to pacify the fears of those who might be worried about her slightly aggressive approach in the song.

"If you have nothing to worry about, if you never came out saying stuff, if you never came out saying your ungrateful bulls**t, then you wouldn't worry about it," she said. (C) Cover Media