--- description: Nicki Minaj offered an inspiring rendition of Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise" at A&E Network's Wednesday night benefit concert. title: Nicki Minaj Delivered a Powerful Reading of Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c9081ad057b44d7/698871f7a988cac3ab6b5620/nicki-minaj-maya-angelou-still-i-rise.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Nicki Minaj Deliver a Powerful Reading of Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise'  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Nov 19, 2015 5:47 PM CUT  Recording artist Nicki Minaj speaks onstage at A+E Networks 'Shining A Light' concert at The Shrine Auditorium on November 18, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Recording artist Nicki Minaj speaks onstage at A+E Networks 'Shining A Light' concert at The Shrine Auditorium on November 18, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for A+E Networks  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Nov 19, 2015 5:47 PM CUT [Nicki Minaj](http://time.com/4108617/person-of-the-year-poll-2015/ "undefined") offered an inspiring rendition of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” at A&E Network’s Wednesday night benefit concert, _Shining A Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America_. Several other notable musicians, such as Pharrell, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and Sia, took part in the show to address racial inequality in America and raise money for [United Way Worldwide](http://www.unitedway.org "undefined"). Angelou’s poem broaches on the themes of racism, misogyny and sexuality, issues that Minaj has been [outspoken](http://time.com/4064315/nicki-minaj-miley-cyrus/ "undefined") about in the past, and the 32-year-old artist gave a fittingly stirring delivery of the piece. “Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise, that I dance like I’ve got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs,” she recited to a cheering audience. See the full reading below: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4120408/nicki-minaj-reads-maya-angelou-still-i-rise/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4120408/nicki-minaj-reads-maya-angelou-still-i-rise/"},"headline":"Watch Nicki Minaj Deliver a Powerful Reading of Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise'","datePublished":"2015-11-19T17:47:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:27:02.263Z","description":"The artist performed the work at a benefit concert","url":"https://time.com/4120408/nicki-minaj-reads-maya-angelou-still-i-rise/","keywords":["Newsfeed","women","celebrities","Authors","Nicki Minaj","singers","musicians","Maya Angelou"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c9081ad057b44d7/698871f7a988cac3ab6b5620/nicki-minaj-maya-angelou-still-i-rise.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c9081ad057b44d7/698871f7a988cac3ab6b5620/nicki-minaj-maya-angelou-still-i-rise.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nicki Minaj Maya Angelou Still I Rise","caption":"Recording artist Nicki Minaj speaks onstage at A+E Networks 'Shining A Light' concert at The Shrine Auditorium on November 18, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.","creditText":"Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for A+E Networks","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4120408/nicki-minaj-reads-maya-angelou-still-i-rise/","name":"Watch Nicki Minaj Deliver a Powerful Reading of Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise'"}}]}] ```