Nicki Minaj Ingredients: What’s the Recipe for Her Success?

With flamboyant pop stars from Lady Gaga to Katy Perry saturating the music scene these days, Nicki Minaj has somehow managed to steal some shine. The most recent example is her hell-raising performance at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards earlier this month. But what makes Nicki Minaj tick? Here The BoomBox dissects the many things that have made what we know of the rapper-turned-pop star. From her monster Giuseppe heels and colorful style to being all up in the bank with her many funny faces and alter egos, we examine the 'I'm the Best' singer's rise to glory thanks to her many quirks and haters.

"Pink wig, thick ass, give em whiplash," Minaj machine-gunned on Kanye West's 2010 track 'Monster.' Minaj without a wig is like Jay-Z without a Yankees cap or Lil Wayne without a skateboard. We've seen her 'do go from pink to green, to pink and green, to spotted animal print, to multi-colored, to a blonde height-defying flattop and more -- you catch the drift. Up close, the 29-year-old MC's fashion sense might not be what you'd want to wear out on Friday night at the movies, but step back a little farther and the neon green leggings coupled with an orange tennis skirt come together like a Monet painting thanks to the fluorescent mop on top.

She doesn't have that Gucci problem or Fendi fetish that many of her fellow male rappers have, but she'll cop a million Jimmy Choos just for fun, as she raps on the 'Pink Friday' track 'I'm the Best.' "Materialistic, I'm narcissistic, my shoe game is mean it's so sadistic," she also rhymes on 'Muny.'

Minaj isn't afraid of being hated. Hip-hop beef makes this rhymer stronger. Leading up to the release of her studio debut, 'Pink Friday,' in November 2010, the wig and stilettos were quickly becoming synonymous with Minaj's style and somebody didn't like that too much. Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s first lady Lil' Kim pioneered the "bad bitch mentality," fake mane and curvy look in the mid-'90s. Kimmy Blanco began an assault on Minaj, but the latter slowly drew out her well-manicured claws and made subtle jabs back.

"Is this the thanks that I get for puttin' you bitches on?" Minaj raps on 'Roman's Revenge.' "Is it my fault that all of you bitches gone? Shoulda sent a thank-you note, you little h--." The beef with Kim has given Minaj a bevy of material to work with in her songs. "Bitch talkin' she the queen when she looking like a lab rat," she sings on 'Stupid H--,' and similar sentiments ring true on other songs. Being hated by a hip-hop veteran only upped Minaj's street cred and made her more loved by the world.

Controversy goes hand in hand with Nicki Minaj. When the Young Money femcee started to gain some heat on the charts, photos from Minaj's 'Dear Old Nicki' days started popping up. The pictures of the 'Super Bass' singer showed a less extensive derriere. People cried "Kim Kardashian!" on Minaj's super ass, charging she had gone under the knife. "I ain't got to wonder if I want to lease or buy/ And I dictate how I'm gon' piece the pie/ I ain't talkin' about no mothaf---in pizza pie/ 'Cause I keep a bad bitch booty big and the waist thin," Minaj spits on 'Muny,' giving credit to her curvy backside. Real or fake, Nicki's bottom could be subconsciously to blame for the success of her biggest single to date, 'Super Bass.'

In the three years since Nicki Minaj rapped 'I Get Crazy' on her breakthrough mixtape 'Beam Me Up, Scotty,' the world has seen just how crazy she can actually get thanks to her many alter egos and their attendant weird faces. "Take your medication Roman," she spits on the schitzo track 'Roman Holiday.' You might recall the song from the 2012 Grammys, where Minaj introduced the world to two of her many sides -- the troubled Roman Zolanski and his mother Martha, the latter who called upon a bishop to exorcise Roman's demons.

The wackiness factor ante is upped when coupled with Minaj's other alter ego: The soft-voiced and uber-feminine Harajuku Barbie. The fun part of going to see Minaj perform is never knowing which person will show up. Roman, the most notorious of the rapper's many facets, appears on tracks like 'Roman's Revenge' and Trey Songz' 'Bottoms Up,' and will take center stage on Minaj's 'Pink Friday' follow-up titled 'Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.' Then there's the Harajuku Barbie, whose lash-batting persona shines on pop-laced tracks like 'Fly' and 'Your Love.' These personalities take Minaj where no female rapper has gone before and make her the most popular girl at hip-hop central.

Lastly, Minaj wouldn't be the superstar she is today without her Twitter-obsessed fans. Her loyal supporters are comprised of two legions: The Roman Empire and the Barbz. While critics, haters and the clueless world might be puzzled by her antics and the ingredients that make up her rap recipe, her Roman Empire and Barbz eat it all up.