With the promo trail for her upcoming third studio album The PinkPrint picking up steam, Nicki Minaj is landing magazine covers left and right, with her latest being the November issue of Billboard magazine.

Rocking a gold sequin-embellished leotard, topped with a gold neck brace choker, Nicki strikes a pose next to the bold title "Nicki vs. the World." Inside, aside from plugging The PinkPrint, set to drop on Dec. 15, the "Anaconda" rapper gets candid on how she got to the level of success she has achieved to date.

When addressing her work ethic, Nicki explained her hands-on approach to everything that affects her brand. "I'm on 15 to 25 conference calls every few days strategizing with my team," she said. "I think a lot of artists sit back and have it done for them. Sometimes as women in the industry — if you're sexy or like doing sexy things — some people subconsciously negate your brain. They think you're stupid."

On top of being a diligently involved businesswoman, the Trinidad-born emcee says she isn't here for sexist backhanded compliments and is easily annoyed by people who underestimate her smarts. "Once I did American Idol, a lot of people would come up to me and say, 'Oh, you're smarter than I thought,'" she said. "What does that mean?!"

Though she's come this far in her journey, she occasionally reflects on where it all began, she noted elsewhere. "I was just a little kid in Southside Jamaica, Queens, hoping one day I would have my own perfume," she told the publication. "And now, I have three."

In the issue, out Friday, Nov. 15, it was also mentioned that Nicki has made history not only as a female in hip hop, but as a general and singular force in music. Thanks to her successes, for example, the "Only" rapper now has the most Billboard Hot 100 hits of any female rapper in history and is No. 5 among all female artists on the chart, right behind Aretha Franklin, Taylor Swift, Dionne Warwick and Madonna.

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(Photo: Billboard, November 2014)