Why Nicki Minaj Is the Music Biz's Reigning Queen of Collaborations: 76 and Counting

According to three music industry experts TooFab spoke with about the incredible amount of tracks on which Minaj has dropped verses, there are several factors in play. Perhaps the most important, though, is her team. JB of The Track Burnaz -- a team that's produced tracks including Big Sean's "Inspire Me" and Future's "Use Me" -- said the people who manage her career are "everything."

"They're the ones who are getting her the plays, getting her the collaborations, if you will," JB told TooFab. "She's got a great camp of writers, producers, stylists. She's also a sex symbol. Women look up to her and how she presents herself."

JB thinks Minaj has a monopoly over the female rap game; even those who could be considered equivalents -- like Azealia Banks or Remy Ma -- can't compete with Minaj's crossover appeal.

"The types of songs and type of collaborations Nicki's done are very universal," he explained. "Her reach is bigger than someone like Azealia Banks or Remy Ma. Remy Ma is all the way hip-hop, all the way urban, so her demographic is not as huge as Nicki's."

Shirley Halperin, executive editor of music at Variety, echoed JB's sentiments.

"No one has the recognition and mainstream appeal that Nicki Minaj does," Halperin told TooFab. "She can also be very street and very almost underground hip-hop, so she rides both lanes, which is very unusual and speaks to her sort of ubiquitous-ness. That's why you hear her on so many tracks and so many different kinds of tracks from the biggest pop stars to the most credible rappers. I think the combination of those two things is really what drives us home. She's really in a league of her own. There's just no one out there who has the skills and the pop sensibility and the sort of drive to make sure that her rhymes are everywhere."

Minaj is a 10-time Grammy nominee and has had 28 hits on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Of the 117 tracks Nicki has recorded, a whopping 76 are collaborations, and that doesn't include any of her mixtapes released before the rapper signed with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, a subsidiary of powerhouse record label Republic.

"Someone like Nicki Minaj and also someone like Snoop Dogg -- they're very sort of democratic about who they do features with, and they really do a lot of them," Halperin said. "Sometimes it's like swapping favors -- you guest for me, and I'll guest for you -- but the people who are smart about it I think say yes more than they say no. And I think Nicki falls into that category."

Prior to Minaj's Friday release with Fergie, the singer's most recent alliance was with Katy Perry on the polarizing pop single, "Swish Swish," which critics have slammed since its debut in May. The duo even took the stage at this year's MTV VMAs to perform the song, and we echo Twitter users everywhere when we say #TGFN (Thank God For Nicki).

Though reactions to Perry's embattled track and accompanying video were fairly negative, there was widespread agreement that Minaj was the best part and saving grace of "Swish, Swish."

"['Swish Swish'] is a random grab bag of Perry's vocals, obnoxious voice-altering effects, and piano flourishes, all laid over a house-inflected beat from the British producer Duke Dumont that suspiciously resembles Minaj's three-year-old 'Truffle Butter,' a recent Spin review stated. "Nicki's verse, for what it's worth, is the bright spot: She shouts out pink pool slides from the under-rapped-about brand Salvatore Ferragamo, name-checks Migos (who featured on 'Bon Appetit'), and references her feud with Remy Ma ('silly rap beefs just give me more checks'). She even sings two of her lines, probably the maximum possible without totally showing up Perry on her own track."

Jeremy Skaller -- a music producer and manager who has worked with Minaj in the past -- made sure to emphasize that while her team, mainstream appeal and choices are important, no one can discount her talent as a driving factor in her massive success.

"She's a beast of an MC, one of the greatest that I've ever come across," Skaller told TooFab. "She's just super-duper talented. It starts there. And she hasn't had sort-of success for a decade; she's been winning for a decade. She's been a powerful woman in a business where there are few."

Indeed. Here are all 76 of Minaj's collaborations to remind just how much winning she's done in less than a decade.

"5 Star" (Remix) - Yo Gotti, featuring Gucci Mane, Trina and Nicki Minaj

"2012 (It Ain't the End)" - Jay Sean, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Animales" - Romeo Santos, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Bang Bang" - featuring Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj

"Beauty and the Beat" - Justin Bieber, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Bed of Lies" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Skylar Grey

"Beez in the Trap" - Nicki Minaj, featuring 2 Chainz

"Big Daddy" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Meek Mill

"Bitch I'm Madonna" - Madonna, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Blazin'" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Kanye West

"Bottoms Up" - Trey Songz, featuring Nicki Minaj

"The Boys" - Nicki Minaj and Cassie

"Buy a Heart" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Meek Mill

"Champion" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Nas, Drake and Young Jeezy

"Check It Out" - Nicki Minaj and will.i.am

"Check It Out" (Special Mix) - Nicki Minaj and will.i.am, featuring Cheryl Cole

"The Creep" - The Lonely Island, featuring Nicki Minaj

"The Crying Game" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Jessie Ware

"Dance (A$$)" (Remix) - Big Sean, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Dark Fantasy" - Kanye West, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Favorite" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Jeremih

"Feeling Myself" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Beyonce

"Fireball" - Willow Smith, featuring Beyonce

"Flawless Remix" - Beyonce, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Fly" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Rihanna

"Freaks" - French Montana, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Get It All" - Sean Garrett, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Get Like Me" - Nelly, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Get Low" - Waka Flocka Flame, featuring Nicki Minaj, Tyga and Flo Rida

"Get On Your Knees" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Ariana Grande

"Girl on Fire" (Inferno Version) - Alicia Keys, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Give Me All Your Luvin'" - Madonna, featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.

"Gun Shot" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Beenie Man

"Hello Good Morning" (Remix) - Diddy - Dirty Money, featuring Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross

"Hell Yeah" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Parker

"High School" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Lil Wayne

"I Ain't Thru" - Keyshia Cole, featuring Nicki Minaj

"I Am Your Leader" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Cam'ron and Rick Ross

"I Don't Give A" - Madonna, featuring Nicki Minaj

"I Endorse These Strippers" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Tyga and Brinx

"I'm Legit" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Ciara

"I'm Out" - Ciara, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Knockout" - Lil Wayne, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Last Chance" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Natasha Bedingfield

"Letting Go (Dutty Love)" - Sean Kingston, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Lil Freak" - Usher, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Looking Ass" - Young Money, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Make Me Proud" - Drake, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Moment 4 Life" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Drake

"Monster" - Kanye West, featuring JAY-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver and Nicki Minaj

"My Chick Bad" - Ludacris, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Only" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Drake, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown

"Out of My Mind" - B.o.B., featuring Nicki Minaj

"Raining Men" - Rihanna, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Rake It Up" - Yo Gotti and Mike WiLL Made-It, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Right By My Side" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Chris Brown

"Roman Reloaded" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Lil Wayne

"Roman's Revenge" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Eminem

"Roman's Revenge" (Remix) Nicki Minaj, featuring Lil Wayne

"Sex in the Lounge" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Lil Wayne and Bobby V

"Side to Side" - Ariana Grande, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Swish Swish" - Katy Perry, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Take It to the Head" - DJ Khaled, featuring Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne

"Till the World Ends (The Femme Fatale Remix)" - Britney Spears, featuring Kesha and Nicki Minaj

"Tonight I'm Getting Over You" (Remix) - Carly Rae Jepsen, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Trini Dem Girls" - Nicki Minaj, featuring LunchMoney Lewis

"Truffle Butter" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Drake and Lil Wayne

"Turn Me On" - David Guetta, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Up All Night" - Drake, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Up Out My Face" - Mariah Carey, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Where Them Girls At" - David Guetta, featuring Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj

"Woohoo" - Christina Aguilera, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Yasss Bish" - Nicki Minaj, featuring Soulja Boy

"You Already Know" - Fergie, featuring Nicki Minaj

"You the Boss" - Rick Ross, featuring Nicki Minaj

"Y.U. Mad" - Birdman, featuring Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj