Nicki is a lyrical monster, spitting punch lines that force you to listen. And when she became Young Money’s first lady, there finally seemed to be a new femcee repping for women everywhere. Despite the various Notorious K.I.M. comparisons, the Queens-bred rapper had the hot 16’s to prove she could hold her own and deserved respect.

With her debut album Pink Friday grabbing the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts and plenty of singles to follow, the rapper tapped into her various personas–Roman Zolanski, Harajuku Barbie and Nicki Teresa to name a few–to have a more lucrative career and lyrical finesse than most male rappers. She is the first female artist to be named on MTV’s Annual Hottest MC List and has yet to prove why the honor should be placed elsewhere.

Can all of her success pave the way for future artists? If history repeats itself, probably not. With The Pink Print slated to arrive sometime this year, Nicki is confident that her third album will hold the keys to achieving a lucrative career.”This album that I’m working on is called The Pink Print,” she said in an interview with DJ Semtex on BBC 1xtra. “Of course I named it The Pink Print and of course Jay has had his Blueprint albums. That’s what I feel like this album is gonna be. I really feel like this album will be a blueprint for female rappers to come.”

What has worked for Nicki Minaj is her affinity to seamlessly move between hip-hop and pop. “Pills N Potions” is certainly a nod to her pop influence while “Chiraq” gives us the gritty rhyme spitter we love; if this symbiotic relationship is reflected on The Pink Print then the blueprint for future femcees is to learn how to navigate both genres equally.

Will this new road lead women to dominate hip-hop or will the struggle continue?