According to Safaree "SB" Samuels, the co-executive producer of Nicki Minaj's current album, the entire thing was initially going to be a rap album.
Talking to MTV, Samuels replied to a question about how he helped strike a balance between the rap and the pop stuff by saying: "In the beginning, we was gonna make it some rap spittin' shit and it was going to have a couple of songs that were going to be the 'Super Bass'-es and joints like that."
Thankfully, common sense prevailed and the album became the semi-amazing thing it is today, as Samuels explained: "But it ended up working out a lot better than how we planned."
When asked if this album represented Minaj deserting her rap roots he summed it all up rather nicely: "She's still doing her rap shit, she's still doing her crossover shit. When you a star, you a star. You can't deny it."