Elton John has worked with a vast array of hip-hop artists, from Eminem to even appearing on the legendary posthumous 2Pac song ‘Ghetto Gospel’; the British singer and songwriter has played a part in hip-hop to a minor extent. However, in an NME interview, he revealed that Nicki Minaj heavily inspired some of his songs.
During the making of his 2021 album, The Lockdown Sessions, John unveiled that he studied Minaj’s songwriting abilities and was astounded at the way she was able to construct songs.
Explaining why he was amazed by rappers such as Minaj, Young Thug, and Lil Nas X, who all feature on the album, John revealed, “[They take] snippets of things and make them into songs. I’m a traditional songwriter, but I’m fascinated with the way people write songs now.”
He even told his core fanbase (who aren’t hip-hop fans) that it is impossible to write off their talent, stating, “Don’t tell me these things aren’t valid. If it’s not your cup of tea, don’t write it off as rubbish. If you don’t understand it, fair enough, but don’t knock it. It’s fantastic stuff.”
The ‘Rocket Man’ musician worked with Minaj and Young Thug on the song ‘Always Love You’ and was “just blown away” by Thug’s magic. During the conversation with NME, John disclosed, “I mean, I’ve seen Marshall [Mathers] do it in Detroit, but I’ve never seen someone like Thug come in and do that.” In fact, John admitted that Young Thug was a bit subdued by him so he left the studio, unveiling, “In the end, I had to leave because I think he felt a bit intimidated that I was there and I just wanted him to relax.”
He continued, “It was just an amazing moment in my musical life. I have no understanding of how rap records are put together, and it’s fascinating to watch.” John expressed his love of hip-hop and the ingenious ways some rappers are able to construct rhymes.
While speaking with Billboard magazine, John unveiled that he was grateful to Young Thug for sampling his smash hit ‘Rocket Man’ for his 2018 track, ‘High’ and revealed that is when their relationship began, disclosing, “He wanted to meet me…and we shot the breeze for 40 minutes, He said, “What do you think? What advice would you give me?’ I said, ‘Did you sing in the choir?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, of course I sang in the choir. Gospel choir.’ I said, ‘Sing more. Don’t just rap; sing more because the mixture of rap, musicianship, and melody is what really makes rap take off.’ And he’s doing that now.”
Nicki Minaj and Elton John’s Lockdown Sessions track ‘Always Love You’ was a collaboration that was on the vocalist’s “Bucket List.” That said, although their collaboration didn’t chart, the album entered the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and debuted at number one on the UK albums chart.
Elton John has always had a lot of love for hip-hop and the art of rap music, and as such it is not a surprise that Nicki Minaj inspired him during the making of Lockdown Sessions.
