Watching Beyonce give props to Nicki Minaj through “Darling Nicki (Minaj)” must have been a gratifying moment. Hearing the biggest pop star of this generation dub The YMCMB emcee “the rap queen” served as another career highlight matched by several multi platinum singles, sold out world tours and other googleable notables. Of course, Yonce’s video was posted following her TIDAL X:10/20 performance where she brought out Ms. Onika for The Pinkprint single “Feeling Myself.” At that moment, it’s clear Minaj has reached a level of pop notoriety that’s unheard of for a female emcee. Looking a little deeper, there isn’t anyone New York touching her reach and sales male or female.
Earlier this month, Minaj became the first rapper since the late great Tupac to cover New York Times Magazine. Interestingly enough, reporter Vanessa Grigoriadis elegantly said, “Minaj has become expert at modeling the ways that women can wield power in the industry.” And yes, she wields a lot of it. Compared to her New York peers, Minaj easily stands above them without much effort. Looking at her local competition, she’s sold more than A$AP Rocky, French Montana, Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson and Troy Ave others. Last year’s video for “Anaconda” broke all sorts of records. One record broken was the most Vemo views within a 24-hour span, knocking down Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” Last year, Minaj beat Michael Jackson by having 51 Billboard Hot 100 hits. The North American leg of her The Pinkprint tour even grossed a total of $13 million.
Sure, Minaj’s visual aesthetic may be a little too over-sexualized for some and her music thematically can seem shallow. However, she’s really mastered the art of making great pop with Hip Hop at the base. Let’s not act as if her “Monster” verse didn’t outclass Ye, Hov and Rick Ross. Album wise, there’s at least one track on Minaj’s albums from Pink Fridayand Pink Friday: Roman Reloadedto The Pinkprint that shows off what she can do lyrically. Would Eminem have even bothered to lend a feature to her on “Roman’s Revenge” if he didn’t respect her abilities as an emcee? The same could be said for album cuts including “Come On A Cone” and “Wants Some More.” Pretending that Minaj only represents are mainstream Hip Hop notions of materialism is lazy cop outs considering tracks like “All Things Go” and “Bed Of Lies.” She’s gone on to outpace her mentor Lil Wayne and essentially stands side-by-side with labelmate Drake.
It’s more than just the music as well when it comes to major pop culture figures. Earlier last summer, Minaj joined Tupac, Biggie Smalls and Snoop Dogg in earning a wax figure at Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas. Then there was the “What’s good Miley?” moment at this year’s MTV Music Video Awards. Minaj’s ongoing romance with Meek Mill made them rap’s current favorite it couple. Hell, they were popular enough to get a full spread in a current issue of GQ Magazine. There’s never been a female in Hip Hop with this much control over her career, in addition enjoying such astronomical success. It’s damn near unprecedented. In such a male-dominated field, it’s easy to forget about how much Minaj has done for Hip Hop. In a span of around five years, she’s gone from making appearances on The Come Up DVDs to literally becoming Hip Hop’s first pop diva.
