U.S rap sensation Nicki Minaj has been honoured by the latest issue of Elle Magazine, the American edition, in a feature called 'Gold Dust Women'. 

The editorial's tag line reads:

"From the new-wave vocal powerhouses to indie minded breakouts to enduring legends who still rock our world, ELLE honors the women in music sounding off in 2011."

The photo of the 'Roman's Revenge' star that accompanies the copy was shot by Terry Tsiollis and shows Minaj in a white, edgy dress by designer Mark Fast, and she opened up about working in a male-dominated industry:

"I always wanted to play with the boys. I didn’t want to be a pawn in their game or have a sidekick role. I wanted to be more of a lead character – a superhero.”

Impressively, Minaj is not only playing with the boys she has been beating them as her debut album, 'Pink Friday', broke the record for the most consecutive weeks spent in the U.S Billboard chart's top 10 by a female rapper. 

Watch her performance of 'Right Thru Me' from a recent concert here: