This past weekend, in a piece for the New York Times, Jon Caramanica writes of Minaj, “…when she releases her second album, ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,’ this week, it will be as the most influential female rapper of all time.” In the story, Caramanica points to all the female rappers that have followed in Nicki Minaj’s wake as evidence of this alleged all time influence–MCs like Iggy Azalea, Brianna Perry, Nitty Scott and Azealia Banks (who surely will disagree), in obvious and subtle ways owe Nicki a debt for their current fortunes. The problem with this argument most people will readily point to is the fact that, at least early on in her career, Nicki Minaj gleaned much of her style heavily from one Lil’ Kim. The only time Lil’ Kim or Foxy Brown, are mentioned in the Times story is in regards to Brianna Perry (who coincidentally dropped a track called “Marilyn Monroe” before the one found on Minaj’s new album) Also going without mention in the story is Lauryn Hill, a major inspiration on any and all MCs, regardless of gender, who Nicki has sighted as a muse multiple times. While there is no question Nicki Minaj is one of the Hip-Hop game’s most influential artists, saying she is the most influential female artist of all time is a reach.