Cash Money co-founder Birdman recently stopped by MTV for an interview with Brian “B.Dot” Miller, during which he spoke about the record label’s legacy. After touching on the success of Hot Boys, Lil Wayne, and Drake, the New Orleans native said Nicki Minaj doesn’t get the credit she deserves.

“I come in an era when females, it was hard for ’em,” said Birdman. "Nicki broke the cycle for females. Nicki did more than any female artist, ever. And you have a lot of great artists before Nicki Minaj. But Nicki Minaj changed the game for females.”

He continued by remembering Nicki’s work ethic during the early stages of her career. “Nicki used to be in the studio with nine, ten n*ggas every night with us in Miami,” he said. “Every single night, putting in the body of work to become who she became. So, I don’t think Nicki get the credit she deserves, but you know, time tells it all."

Birdman added that he believes Nicki is still the biggest female rapper. “One thing they say, numbers don’t lie,” he said. “And her numbers speak for themselves.”

Indeed, each of Nicki’s four studio albums have debuted at either No. 1 or No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. More impressively, she is the most successful female artist in Hot 100 history, with 108 entries on the chart. The total puts her just behind Drake (207) and Lil Wayne (167) as the rappers with the most charting singles in the chart’s history.

Nicki herself has frequently expressed frustration with her status in hip-hop, particularly around the release of her 2018 album, Queen. In a contentious 2019 interview on The Joe Budden Podcast, she called out the retired rapper for “spreading lies” about her and trying to tear her down following her beef with rival female MC Cardi B.

“I still had to go through these things because of people like you who made a sport of tearing down a young black woman who has done nothing but come in this game with an authentic come-up, writing raps, and doing what’s actually necessary,” she said. “No Instagram, no reality shows, no sucking DJ’s d*cks. And then to have people who I think are smart enough to see that do nothing but tear me down… would not join in that. But in fact, it was the opposite. Those people came together to try to end me.”

Watch the full interview above, and read all the lyrics to Nicki Minaj’s biggest hits on Genius now.