Young Money rapper Nicki Minaj recently gave her thoughts on the rap game and why she is proud of all hip-hop artists this year.

Asked to name her favorite retail projects of 2012, Minaj countered with her love for hip-hop as a whole.

"I really have been enjoying all of the hip-hop albums that came out because I feel like hip-hop artists have been taking their careers into their own hands and I just want to give a salute to everyone because it's not easy...The music has been sort of changing and adding new sounds to the game and introducing new people to the game, so I would just give a big nod to hip-hop for 2012." (Associated  Press)