text: Before I begin, I would like to note that I am not a Barb – that’s not to be taken as a negative statement, but rather to let you, the reader, know that my opinions aren’t biased
  With that out of the way, I am someone who extremely respects the accelerated rise of a superstar - and not just someone who tops the Billboard Hot 100 with one or two songs to later fade into non-relevance
  Don’t get me wrong, Im all about artists having their moment - but creating that moment, while still a pretty monumental task, is the easy part. Whats hard is sustaining that rapid ascendance to the top
  To become a mainstay in the music industry, it takes multiple hit songs, impressive live performances, educated sit-down interviews, and an extremely hard work ethic to create a superstar. It also requires you to earn the respect of your fellow peers – because, let’s face it, how can someone be labeled a “superstar” without having earned the respect from fans, the media, and even other artists?
  And while it’s not often that a new superstar emerges, if I had one word to describe Nicki Minaj and her meteoric rise to fame, it would be just that – superstar
  We all know the backstory – Nicki was born in Trinidad, moved to New York City as a child with her family, had a rough childhood as her father, attended LaGuardia High School , and was eventually signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money label
  During the lengthy bidding war for Nicki Minaj, which involved various record labels, Lil Wayne had hopes that she would eventually sign with him and become the “First Lady of Young Money”. After some persuasion, as well as a $5 million dollar signing-bonus, his dream became a reality
  That following year, as we all know with the release of her debut album, “Pink Friday”, a superstar began to emerge…
  What’s so ironic about the accelerated rise to fame for Nicki Minaj is that the adversity she had to deal with as a child isn’t even the biggest obstacle that she had to overcome to be a star
  The real hurdle in her way, and one that has caused problems for many female rappers of this past decade, was making a name for herself in the male-driven and male-dominated world that is rap
  With a large amount of guest appearances to her name – including being featured on songs by hip hop heavyweights Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Beyoncé and on songs by pop icons Mariah Carey, Madonna, and Britney Spears – Nicki made a name for herself by outshining her more-established peers on their own songs
  As the most successful commercial female rapper of all-time, Nicki also proved that she could compete for airplay on Top 40 radio with smash hits like “Superbass”, “Starships”, and “Moment For Life”. No longer was she confined to creating singles for urban radio, but she was now a bonafide-hit across all genres
  Now, with a staggering net worth of over $50 million, Nicki has proven that she can hang with any male rapper in the game bar-to-bar, create radio-friendly and chart-topping hits that rival those of pop’s biggest acts, and attract the attention of huge brand names like Coke, Pepsi, MAC, and Adidas for multi-million dollar endorsement deals
  If that’s not the power of a superstar, then I don’t know what is