#TBT: Nicki Minaj

Ever since Nicki Minaj released Pink Friday in 2010, she has been one of the most unstoppable forces in the game. She's had 13 platinum singles as the lead artist and another 12 platinum singles as featured artist. She's pretty much in a league of her own.

As a female, Nicki Minaj has laid serious groundwork in the realm of hip hop. In 2010, she had seven singles simultaneously charting on the Hot 100, becoming the first female solo artist to do so. Her three albums peaked at #1, #1, and #2 respectively on the Billboard 200 chart and easily scooped the #1 spot in the rap and R&B categories here in the USA. She's also had four different singles break into the top 10 on the Hot 100 chart.

Today we throw it back to some of the best song from the beginning of Minaj's career.

The lead single from Minaj's debut album Pink Friday, "Your Love"  hit #1 on the US Rap chart, #4 on the US R&B chart, and #14 on the all-encompassing Hot 100.

Nicki is a product of New York City, and she pays her tribute to Biggie with her ow take on "Warning," from her 2007's Playtime Is Over. The Queens-Brooklyn connection is alive and well.

This 2009 single from Young Money appeared on the compilation record We Are Young Money. Wayne, Gudda, Nicki, Drizzy, Tyga, Jae Millz, and Lloyd got together for this wildly popular posse cut... still bangs.

Nicki's 2007 mixtape Playtime Is Over had freestyles over familiar instrumentals by Jay Z, Beyonce, Puff Daddy, Fabolous, and more. Rapping over DJ Khaled's "We Takin' Over," she unleashing a furious verse that calls out females in the hip hop game as she comes gunning for the throne.

"Just when they thought it was safe to play - I
Hit'em with the N.I.C to K.I
I'm Tinkerbell, he's Peter Pay-ai
To these rap bitches, I'm Mother May I
I wanna know why you waste your ti- I'm
On these rap hoes, that don't write they rhy- I'm
Get a can of Sprite, with a twist of lime
Money, money, money always on my mind"

Nicki's 2008 mixtape Sucka Free saw our subject doing takes on popular tracks of the moment like Lil Wayne's "Lollopop" and T.I.'s "My Swag" along with classics by Biggie, LL Cool J, and Clipse. Amidst the familiar sounds was Nicki's take on "Freaky Gurl" by Gucci Mane. Inviting Lil Kim to spit a verse along the way turns this one into a stand-out cut.

Off her Beam Me Up Softly mixtape, "I Get Crazy" features Lil Wayne and actually managed to break onto the US Rap and US R&B charts, landing at #20 and #37 respectively. Check out the Trapaholics-hosted banger for an early glimpse into Nicki's genius.

Even in a star-studded line up like this one, Nicki still comes with arguably the hardest verse out of all of them. Kanye's golden era yielded some great tracks, but "Monster" still stands as one of his strongest. 

Minaj's 2009 "Itty Bitty Piggy" was lyrically ahead of its time. Released just a year before the multi-platinum Pink Friday, this is a taste of Nicki on the brink of becoming one of the biggest rappers in the game.

Listen to Nicki Minaj keep up with one of the greatest rappers of all time with "Roman's Revenge," (still fresh) off her debut album Pink Friday. 

The beat on this one is unreal, and 2 Chainz blessed it properly. Of course, Nicki Minaj did her damn thing on it as well, igniting a fire verse to kick things off with eight bars of fury.

"Man I been did that, man I been popped off
And if she ain't trying to give it up she get dropped off
Let me bust that U-ie, bitch bust that open
Might spend a couple thou' just to bust that open
Rip it off no joking, like your name Hulk Hogan
Niggas move weight in the South but live in Hoboken
Bitch, I spit that crack, like I'm in that trap
So if you need a hit then I'm with that bat"