Nicki Minaj defends Grammy performance, says it is part of a movie

Daniel S Levine

Nicki Minaj made an appearance on Good Morning America on February 15 2012 in New York City Philip Vaughan or

Rapper Nicki Minaj has received plenty of criticism since her performance on Sundays Grammy Awards, in which she performed her songs in what seemed like an exorcism and featured dancing priests. She is now defending the performance and said in a recent interview that it is actually part of a movie.

The 29-year-old singer told Access Hollywood that she knows that her real fans liked the performance. My young fans absolutely loved it. My core fans absolutely loved it because they know the story that I was portraying, she said. Minaj also staid that she had been planning the performance for the past two years. Its been two years in the making. I dont know who said you cant do that. I mean, Im going to do whatever I need to do to portray a story, she added.

According to The Associated Press, Minaj spoke to the media at a press event held by Viva Glam MAC cosmetics on Wednesday. Minaj, along with singer Ricky Martin, is an ambassador for the company, which will donate proceeds of a special edition product to international HIV/AIDS foundations.

She added that the performance, which included the new songs, Romans Revenge and Roman Holiday, was derived from a movie she is writing. You know how people write plays and movies? That's what I did. I wrote that and I gave the world a tiny little preview of what was to come, she told the media. She also admitted that the performance was inspired by The Exorcist.

Minaj told Access Hollywood! that th e performance absolutely was not meant to be offensive. Her next album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, will be released on April 3. Her 2011 debut, Pink Friday, was nominated for three Grammys.

Minaj will next perform at the NBA All-Star game, which is scheduled for Feb. 26 in Orlando. According to The Associated Press, Minaj has been tapped to perform a medley of her hits when the players are announced. May J. Blige will perform the national anthem. Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Nayer will perform during halftime, while Will.i.am, Flo Rida and The Voice winner Javier Colon are set to perform during festivities the day before the game.