YUP! Niki says it will hurt their street cred....read on.

Nicki Minaj doesn't think it's a good idea for rappers to audition for
American Idol -- saying that it may take away their street cred. During a
press junket earlier this week, she said, "This is definitely not a rap
competition, and when I got involved with (American Idol) I specifically said I
hope they didn't try to do that because I was on the show. America loves that
it's an honest singing competition and I'm not here to change that, I'm here to
judge."

She continued, "I definitely don't think a rapper should be in this
competition. I started off in the streets, selling mix tapes out of my car. It's
a different situation. The hip-hop community wants you to be credible. With
singing, people don't really necessarily care what you've gone through. If it's
a great song, they are going to love it, 'cause it's going to touch them or
inspire them. But with rap, it's different. I would never go on a show like this
as a rapper. I wouldn't encourage anyone else as a rapper to come on. I don't
think it's authentic."

• She added, "If you're really looking for people to see you as an authentic
  rapper, you wouldn't do it."