When you enlist the Nicki Minaj to open your awards show, you"re throwing down the gauntlet for the rest of the performers right there.
The MC is guaranteed to bring the house down with her intense flow and jaw-dropping antics, and Sunday night"s effort was no exception.
Minaj kicked off the 2017 Billboard Music Awards with a bang (bang) as she performed a medley of hits with some high-wattage guests.
Featurng Lil Wayne ("No Frauds") and David Guetta ("Light My Body Up"), plus Jason Derulo ("Swalla"), this was one heck of an opener.
Nicki performed her new single "Regret In Your Tears" after an intro of her classics "Beez in the Trap," "Starships" and "Moment For Life."
Minaj laid into Remy Ma with the diss track "No Frauds" featuring Weezy to drop the rhymes on his verse; Drake did not appear, sadly.
Seamlessly moving on to "Light My Body Up," Guetta appeared behind her, and Derulo then came out to contribute his verse on "Swalla."
Gyrating in a chair as she spat game, Nicki wasn"t done there.
She gave us a little taste of "Regret In Your Tears," concluding the performance as she rose above us on a pedestal … fitting, certainly.
Minaj, who was nominated for the Billboard Chart Achievement Award, has had one heck of a year so far, and it"s not even half over.
Beyond the four tracks above, she"s released "Changed It" with Weezy, plus tracks with Gucci Mane, Major Lazer and DNCE.
She even appears on Katy Perry"s "Swish Swish" Taylor Swift diss track, and she is said to be releasing her own album later this year.
According to Billboard, Minaj"s 76 appearances on the Hot 100 charts are the most all-time by a female artist, which is truly remarkable.
Aretha Franklin (73), Taylor Swift (70), Rihanna (58) and Madonna (57) round out the top five in terms of lifetime Hot 100 appearances.
That is some seriously exclusive company.
Check out Minaj"s star-studded performance below and see why she"s created such a legacy for herself ever since bursting on the scene.
