Nicki Minaj has been crowned the best female rapper of all time by Billboard.
Out of 25 influential female rappers, Minaj secured the top spot, solidifying her legacy in hip-hop history. The list, unveiled on Monday, April 7, 2025, was based on a comprehensive set of criteria, including chart performance, cultural impact, lyrical skill, longevity, and flow.
Billboard praised Minaj’s extensive body of work and groundbreaking achievements, which made her a clear standout.
“She became the first female rapper to surpass 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018—an extraordinary feat few artists across any genre can claim. Recently, her Pink Friday 2 World Tour broke records, becoming the highest-grossing tour ever by a female rapper.
“Fifteen years after she left Earth with her godly verse on Kanye West’s ‘Monster’ and delivered her seminal Pink Friday debut album, the First Lady of Young Money is still running laps around the competition,” Billboard wrote. “Minaj quickly usurped the throne and stylistically rewrote the playbook for female rappers, while becoming an architect of pop music in the process. Whether she’s tapping into her storied rap personas—Harajuku Barbie, Roman Zolanski, or Chun-Li—or just spitting as Onika, the story of rap can’t be told without Minaj. And she’s got plenty of ‘sons’ in the industry running through the doors she busted down,” it read.
The publication continued: “The Queens icon became the first female rapper to eclipse triple-digit Billboard Hot 100 hits in 2018 (with 149 entries to her name as of publishing), and her connection to the Barbz remains stronger than ever, as the Pink Friday 2 World Tour became the highest-grossing tour for a female rapper in history. One thing’s for sure, the road to the crown on a list like this still runs through Gag City.”
Nicki Minaj being crowned the best female rapper of all time has sparked online debate, with mixed reactions.
Other iconic names on the list include Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Lil’ Kim, and Queen Latifah.
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