Countdown to Nicki Minaj’s ‘Pink Friday': 50K for a Verse

As Nicki Minaj readies her debut solo album 'Pink Friday' with the recent addition of Eminem, we must not forget the countless guest spots and verses the Young Money first lady lent to top artists. 2009 and 2010 proved to be gigantic for Nicki, as the femcee jumped on some of the biggest hits through stellar collaborations. Not only did this allow her to break some records, but it made the world know that when you ask Nicki to deliver, she delivers.

Minaj enhances any track she jumps on. We saw her deliver on Yo Gotti's 'Five Star Chick' remix alongside female rap veteran Trina. From there she coasted onto Usher's seductive track 'Little Freak,' Robin Thicke's 'Shakin It for Daddy, Mariah Carey's 'Up Out of My Face,' and even had actress Michelle Trachtenberg doing viral videos of herself rapping like Nicki. Others included Lloyd's 'Take It Off' with J. Holiday, 'In My Head' with Jason Derulo, Sean Garrett's 'Get It All,' Jay Sean's '2012,' and Sean Kingston's 'Letting Go (Dutty Love).' This list goes on and on from here. It's no wonder why this past month Nicki broke a Billboard record with SEVEN songs at one time on the charts.

Lyrically, a few collaborations stuck out considerably, placing Nicki in the higher echelon of emcees, both male and female. The first being Ludacris' 'My Chick Bad,' where Nicki proved that in Luda's battle of the sexes, the lady was the killer. Lines like "Now all these b----es wanna try and be my bestie, but I take a left and leave 'em hangin' like teste" showed Nicki was ferocious. Plus, that track coined the phrase "It's goin' down ... basement." Just as rumors flew that Diddy was representing Nicki, she hopped on Dirty Money's hit 'Hello Good Morning' with Rick Ross and took over the whole track.

In addition, Nicki served Mr. Steal Your Girl Trey Songz with a helping of fire on his track 'Bottoms Up,' as Nicki's alter ego "Roman Zolanski" took the mic and chewed through her verse sealing it with an R.I.P. to Anna Nicole Smith. Then of course we have 'Monster,' where in the presence of hip-hop heavyweights like Kanye West and Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj was the winner, having everyone scream "I'm a mothaf---in' monster!" when it wasn't even her track.

Pop-wise, all praises due to Will.i.Am and his latest 'Check It Out,' where Nicki got to be Nicki, but the Pop world finally took notice. This track was the reason why when people turned on daytime and late night talk shows, Nicki's face was on the TV. Check out the video to the collaboration that made Nicki "pop."