It should come as no surprise that the GQ staff and our extended family all love Nicki Minaj, a rapper who's become one of music's biggest stars and stayed steady in her reign for close to a decade. Today, to celebrate the release of the Queens rapper's fourth album—Queen, natch—the GQ editors have put our heads together to compile a roundup of our favorite Minaj verses. You'll find some fan-favorites in here, of course (no list is complete without "Monster" at the tippy top, as it should be), some pop standouts, mixtape representation, and plenty more. Dig in below.
Even a pathological liar cannot deny that one of the most brilliant spots on Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy belongs to a woman named Onika Maraj. Tucked at the 3:35 mark of the album's sixth song is one of hip-hop's most undeniable treasures. For rap purists, it is a thrilling lyrical barrage. For fans of Minaj's quirky brand of shit-talking, it is heaven. Here, 'Ye and Jay are merely previews to the feature film. Impatiently skipping past them would warrant little judgment. Nicki's snarling verse is a hair-raising reminder of how, even in the presence of G.O.A.T.s, that rap crown can sit snugly atop her wig-adorned head. "Because," in her summation, "that's what a motherfuckin' monster do." — Stacy-Ann Ellis, GQ contributor
This is a Max Martin and Zedd-produced banger and it’s a formula for 2012 gold. It predates BadBoyBieber™ and still features crazy-haired Nicki (oh, simpler times). As an emphatic Jelena supporter (I’m so sorry Hailey, but true love is what it is), anything that immortalizes that relationship is great for me, for I too am keeping an eye out for Selenerrrrrrrr. For an added layer of vanity, Nicki Minaj and Ashlee Bobb both have ten letters, so "World tours, it's mine / Ten little letters on a big sign" was the Instagram caption I needed before I even had an Instagram. Nicki.......... thank you. — Ashlee Bobb, communications associate
The task of choosing my favorite Nicki verse is truly like playing Russian Roulette with my closest friends and family. Do I rep for early flows like "Keys Under Palm Trees" or "Roger That"? Do I throw down hard for deeper, non-single cuts like "I Endorse These Strippers" or 2 Chainz's "I Luv Dem Strippers"? Hell, her verse on the SNL digital short "The Creep" is mind-bogglingly good, too!
But then there's 2017's "Make Love," which features a verse so staggeringly tight by Minaj that it leaves me short of breath every time I play it. Peppering in a Bravo reference ("Ain't talking Housewives / But I'm in the Por-sha") atop lyrical slights of hand ("I don't see-uh / Bitch I'm the greatest, no Kendrick / And no Sia") and disses so sharp and profound and deeply cutting ("You see silly rabbit / To be the queen of rap / You gotta sell records / You gotta get plaques / S, plural, like the S on my chest") that I can feel them sting like phantom pain more than a year later. It is a rapper scorned and furious; it's that quiet, white-hot kind of fury that lurks just under the surface and jumps out when your foe least expects it. And it fucking bangs. — Brennan Carley, entertainment associate
Once upon a time, Nicki Minaj dropped a scorching remix to Young Thug’s 2013 single “2 Bitches (Danny Glover)." Since that day, I have never been the same. Minaj’s verse contains multitudes, underlining exactly why she remains the indisputable Queen of Rap. Her 1-minute-and-38-second flow includes such iconic lines as "So I ain't fuckin' with chickens / Unless I got pico de gallo," which may explain why her remix has approximately 22 million more plays on SoundCloud than Thug’s original track. Deservedly so. — Luke Leifeste, social manager
Few things make me happier than Nicki rapping "real thick vagina." — Marian Bull, food and travel editor
Three months before Nicki solidified her place in rap history on Kanye's "Monster," I was frantically looking up the lyrics to "Bottoms Up." I was in high school, had never even seen any of the liquors she rapped about, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to learn every word as quickly as possible to impress all my friends. That was my favorite Nicki. That was the anthem that truly birthed Roman, arguably her best alter-ego. Lyrically she's all over the place. Margaritas, Louisville sluggers, Haitian babies, Anna Nicole Smith, Mother Mary. It made absolutely no sense while simultaneously making the most sense that I had ever experienced in my whole 16 years of living. — Chris Young, editorial assistant
First off, I commend the audacity of Nicki writing a song called “Chun-Li” without knowing a dang thing about the Street Fighter character. That’s some nerd shit that she doesn't have time to deal with. But the bit I can’t stop thinking about is her outro—“I need a Mai Tai, so fuckin' sci-fi / Give me the password, to the fuckin' wifi”—which is entirely nonsensical. Why does Chun-Li need a rum-bass cocktail? What about that drink evokes science fiction? Where is she that she could order a Mai Tai that would have internet access? Maybe it turns out “Chun-Li” is about a tiki bar spaceship. Starships were meant to fly, after all. — Kevin Nguyen, senior editor
— Megan Tatem, digital designer
The second verse of "Trini Dem Girls" is a pure example of the two best parts of rap—supremely satisfying puns, and corny as hell things to chant along to. It begins with the former: "He wanna pound it like a hashtag," a slow burn so good you have to know both American and British english to get it. But by the end, it devolves into her calling out, generally, girls for how great they are. "Them island girls is the baddest / American girls run the planet / South African, European, Asian, Australian, and my Canadian Girls." Nicki, where did you get your map? Are you referring to South Africa the country or the general geographic region? What did Canada do to get singled out? This verse is like "California Girls" by way of Queens, and it will never not bring me joy. — Jaya Saxena, GQ contributor
I love that the first words you hear on this Pink Friday track are "SHITTED ON 'EM." Strong imagery there. Putting your two fingers in the air if you took a number two on them. I could go on forever about just that, but we're talking about our favorite verses here and mine is verse 3 ("All these bitches is my sons / And I ain't talking 'bout Phoenix"). Nicki Minaj will NOT let you forget that these bitches are, in fact, her sons. She sums up the song in the last line: "If you could turn back time / Cher / You used to be here now you gone / Nair" letting all those HAS BEENS know that it's her time. All hail Nicki. 👑 — Camila Perez, snapchat visual producer
Hands down her best is “Chiraq” (feat. Lil Herb). With a minimalist, bass-heavy beat and eerie piano sprinkled throughout, Nicki goes in, essentially sans hook, for nearly ninety seconds of pure lyrical brilliance. Unlike many of her more proper studio hits, there’s no manipulation of her inflection and cadence, which allows her percussive delivery and flow to flourish. Nicki’s not here to make friends; she’s here to let you know she’s Bad with a capital B. And she can’t sum it up any better than this: “Got a money fetish, I’mma fly to Venice / Got a big house, I can play some tennis / Lil Herb, what’s good? / I’m a bad bitch, and I fuck good.” — Ben Pardee, editorial web producer
My big qualm with my education is that I was never offered a Nicki Minaj-themed linguistics course. If I had been, there surely would’ve been a class dedicated to Nicki’s verse on “Up All Night.” Maybe two. There’s so much to unpack! Notice the masterful use of the em-dash: “I got the kind of money, that make a broke bitch bitter/ I got that kinda—wait, wait—fixate.” The song came in 2010, at Nicki’s peak prolificacy, and she lets you imagine a whole other verse she might’ve delivered. Her diction’s perfect. As is this sentence: “I look like ‘yes’ and you like ‘no.’” Class dismissed. — Max Cea, GQ contributor
As crazy as it sounds, there was indeed a time not too long ago where DatPiff was my number 1 streaming service. It was a wild world of leaks, bootlegs, official mixtapes, albums, and everything in between, a space that was full of trash for sure, but the promise of a gem was always just a few clicks away. Beam Me Up Scotty was one of those gems and “I Get Crazy” was the song that had my head spinning for months. The second verse in particular is a blistering combination of flows, personas, punch lines, and really encapsulates everything that was, and still is, exciting about Nicki. — Shakeil Greeley, channel manager
Before Nicki Minaj was phoning in verses for anyone (see “Back Together” by Robin Thicke), her guests spots were genuinely thrilling. Take her collab with fellow purveyor of pure unabashed filth, Christina Aguilera, on the latter’s 2010 track “Woohoo,” taken from the much maligned but “ahead of its time” album Bionic.
A five-minute song about cunnilingus is already incredible on its own, but Nicki’s verse—which gets more deranged as she boasts about the prowess of her pussy—is straight fire. Her voice wobbles with depravity as she raps “When it drip, drip / Lick, lick like a lolly” and namechecks fashion designers and music execs before she commends her “little daddy” on his tongue (!!!) and offers to hire him to provide round the clock head. Amazing. — Alim Kheraj, GQ contributor
An admission: I’m not the biggest Nicki Minaj fan! As a child of the '90s, I’ve held on to the female superstars of my youth for an oddly long time. Think Destiny’s Child ("Thou shall not bug" is canon), TLC (R.I.P. Left Eye), Missy Elliott (put her music videos in the MoMA), and so on. Adjusting to the newer forces of nature—Nicki, Cardi, Rihanna—has been exactly that: an adjustment! But hey, we’re here to talk about Nicki, right? And you know what I do love? Her profound proclamations in “Moment 4 Life,” her 2010 Grammy-nominated hit with Drake. “And I will retire with the crown, yes! / No I'm not lucky, I'm blessed, yes! / Clap for the heavyweight champ, me! / But I couldn't do it all alone, we!” Cue to me ending every sentence with a “yes!”, or a “we!” while out with a group of friends. I might be shunned from most social spaces almost immediately, but hell, turns out we stan a 5’2”, Trinidad-born, perfectly-eyeshadowed legend in the making! — Sam Todd, social media editor
