Nicki Minaj's 10 Biggest History-Making Moments
Nicki Minaj > Michael Jackson? No way. But recently, Young Money's First Lady did break one of the King of Pop's records when her new song "Anaconda" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 19. Nicki has now placed 51 different songs on the Hot 100 chart during her career—which is one more Hot 100 entry than MJ has—and is tied with Rod Stewart on the list of artists with the most Hot 100 songs ever. "Made history today," Nicki wrote on Instagram. "God bless, and thank you."
Nicki should be getting used to this by now. Over the past few years, she's broken lots of records thanks to both her music and her videos. So in honor of her latest accomplishment, let's take a closer look at Nicki Minaj's 10 biggest history-making moments.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Having seven (!) different songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the same time ("Your Love," Ludacris' "My Chick Bad," Lil Wayne's "Knockout," Trey Songz' "Bottoms Up," Usher's "Lil Freak," Sean Kingston's "Letting Go (Dutty Love)," and Jay Sean's "2012 (It Ain't the End)"
The Date: October 2010
Why It Was Special: If you're wondering how Nicki Minaj has managed to put 51 different songs on the Hot 100 chart, look no further than this moment. Her guest verses have helped her get onto the chart time and time and time again.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Becoming the first female rapper in more than a decade to have the No. 1-selling album in the country with Pink Friday
The Date: February 2011
Why It Was Special: Eve's 1999 album, Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders First Lady, was the highest-selling album for a week when it was released. But it took 12 years for another female MC to duplicate her accomplishment.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Being named to the annual Forbes "Hip-Hop Cash Kings" list
The Date: August 2011
Why It Was Special: In 2011, Nicki became the very first female rapper to ever make the list. But seeing as how she's had so much success, it wasn't a surprise to see her land there.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Becoming the first female rapper to land a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Rap chart since 2003 with "Your Love"
The Date: July 2010
Why It Was Special: Oddly enough, "Your Love" wasn't even supposed to be a single. It was leaked out without Nicki's permission. But that didn't stop it from topping the charts and making Nicki the first female rapper since Lil Kim (who topped the charts with "Magic Stick") to go No. 1.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Breaking the female rap record for the most consecutive weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart by keeping Pink Friday there for 14 weeks
The Date: March 2011
Why It Was Special: Other female rap albums have stayed in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 charts for long stretches of time. For instance, Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill stayed there for 10 weeks. But Nicki set a new standard when Pink Friday didn't budge out of the top 10 for more than three months.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Spending 21 straight weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Starships" and breaking a record previously held by the Black Eyed Peas and "I Gotta Feeling"
The Date: July 2012
Why It Was Special: "Starships" was a song that didn't get a lot of love from the "real" hip-hop heads out there (hi, Peter Rosenberg). But the song catapulted Nicki into another stratosphere and helped turn her into a household name.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Racking up a record 4.8 million views for her music video for "Stupid Hoe" on VEVO within 24 hours of its release
The Date: January 2012
Why It Was Special: "Stupid Hoe" wasn't one of Nicki's better songs or videos. But it did get people talking about Nicki—both positively and negatively—after she released the video for it.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Selling 375,000 copies of Pink Friday in the first week, giving her the second-highest first week sales of any female rapper ever (behind only Lauryn Hill who sold 423,000 copies of her debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in the first week)
The Date: December 2010
Why It Was Special: Back in 1998 when Lauryn Hill released her album, there were way more people who were still buying CDs. That wasn't the case in 2010, and yet, Nicki still almost topped Lauryn's first-week sales.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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The Moment: Gracing the cover of Marie Claire and becoming the first rapper to ever land on that magazine's front page
The Date: July 2013
Why It Was Special: Nicki has appeared on a number of magazine covers in the past. But if you needed proof about how popular she was becoming on a mainstream level last year, this was all you needed to see.
Photo Credit: Marie Claire
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The Moment: Becoming the first female rapper to be on the No. 1 and No. 2 songs on the iTunes singles chart
The Date: August 2014
Why It Was Special: "Anaconda" did more than just help Nicki land on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the 51st time. It also landed at No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart, one slot ahead of Nicki's collaboration with Jessie J and Ariana Grande called "Bang Bang." The hits clearly just keep coming for her.
Photo Credit: Amazon
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