Trinidadian American rapper and singer-songwriter Onika Maraj, also known by stage name Nicki Minaj, is having her spotlight moment.

With a splashy appearance at the 2010 Video Music Awards, whispers of a Ryan Seacrest-produced reality show and mounting declarations that she's the next Lady Gaga, Ms. Minaj is rocketing towards the forefront of pop, with her debut album, Pink Friday, set to drop Nov. 23.

The former Bronx Red Lobster employee earned her first minor recognition less than two years ago with the Female Artist of the Year award at the Underground Music Awards. With her popular brand of raunch and confessional feminist rap that recalls Lauryn Hill and TLC's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez, Minaj is more than ready for "Your Love."

Minaj joins a cast of stars who are more like schizophrenic performers than musical artists. Her version of girl power has birthed a swath of fans she calls "my Barbies" just as Gaga calls her fans "monsters." She appears at awards shows in a Lil Kim-style wig and affects a British accent in interviews.

Minaj's sexed-up style and ever-expanding cast of characters, including a Harajuku Barbie and an artful Roman Zolanski, call into question just how much she subscribes to female empowerment and the validity of her "monstertude."

Her eagerness to assimilate with the hyper-masculine mainstream of hip-hop was in evidence in a Sept. 13 performance of "Monster" alongside Kanye West and Jay-Z at a sold-out Yankee Stadium, which she described on Twitter as the "Best nite of my life." With such electric performances, Minaj is taking all the right steps to achieve relevance, but audiences' appetite for a pop star with multifarious personas is being put to the test.

View the triple trouble performance of "Monster":