Nicki Minaj is a machine. A bionic femcee with a fake butt, tons of surgery and, by most accounts, a fabricated bisexuality. She’s nice to look at and spits bars that we’re comfortable repeating.when she hops on tracks with guys. Just look at her first lines on “Monster.”

“Pull up in the monster
Automobile gangster
With a bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka”

These are men’s lyrics just disguised in a voice that sounds like it comes from a Hannah-Barbara cartoon. But make no mistake, she ripped her “Monster” bars to shreds. Even the “pink wig/thick ass/give em whiplash” that comes towards the end of the verse doesn’t come with a direct object, meaning that it could be first or third person. These seem to be calculated attempts to make her lyrics easier for men to recite. In hindsight, her appearance on “My Chick Bad” doesn’t have the lyrics we’ve come to expect from a female cameo.

Of course, Nicki’s big single is as girly as it gets, but you could say the same about any of Drake’s recent radio smashes. But when she cuts tracks with the men, she makes sure her verses are universal, maintaining a certain aspirational quality that crosses gender lines. This is a formula that could ensure an increasing fan base to come. Especially if she keeps dropping “Monster” verses.