For day two of our countdown to Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, social media maven Karen Civil discusses the role Nicki Minaj's digital presence plays in building her brand and contributing to her success.

As the owner and founder of KarenCivil.com and Always Civil Enterprise, the Elizabeth, N.J., native is not only the woman behind some of Young Money's successful digital campaigns, but a tastemaker in her own right. Starting her career as an assistant to Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex, Civil has held positions as a consultant, writer and publicist. Last year, she landed a gig as a social media manager for Beats by Dr. Dre, and remains a go-to-source for artist development. She does this all while keeping the public informed about the latest music news.

Civil was one of the first people to show Minaj love via her site and has personally watched her develop into a Lauryn Hill-esque figure for the new generation.

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Karen Civil's Countdown

to Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

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"Nicki Minaj is one of those rare artists who get the social aspect of their career. She interacts with her fans, she replies to them, she gets them information first. Even with her website, she makes sure it's updated. Everything that she does is on her site [immediately afterwards]. She's connected in every single platform that she has. She gets that connection [for example], with creating "Team Minaj," making sure they're getting information first, and it's incredible.

She's more crafty with it, [she'll write on Twitter], 'Hey, I wanna speak to [DJ] Skrillex,' and her fans are rallying making sure they got the phone number! They move, and they work for her. She has a lot of Team Minaj soldiers, and they ride for her. She's genuinely about her fans; she just makes sure that she answers questions, and plays around with them. She will go hard for her fans -- she'll set up a time [to talk to them]. She's been doing this for a while, and she was passionate. She had that connection with her fans back when she was doing 'The Come Up' DVDs. The grind doesn't stop because she sold [1.7] million records.

With Nicki, it was just her personality [that stood out to me]. She can go hardcore, she can be super sexy. She'll rap one second with Madonna, next minute she'll be hardcore talkin' "bang, bang" with Lil Wayne. Me myself, I wanna wear sweats with my Jordans one day, or a dress with my Jeffrey Campbell [shoes]. You just don't need to set yourself in one mode. She diversifies it. She reminds me of a new age of Lauryn Hill. I'm not saying she is her, but how Lauryn was doing singing and rapping -- it's the same thing, which her fans can appreciate. "

Watch Nicki Minaj's "Did It on 'Em" Video


See Nicki Minaj's Fashion Evolution

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