Nicki Minaj's pop smashes may contain her singing top line but they arent "singing pop records". They are pop/rap records with huge choruses and bridges. She has rap verses on all of them (yes the melodic 2nd verse on Starships is a rap verse )

It's literally what Iggy is already doing which is why I started this whole thing off by saying there is no about face for her..

That is the formula..

Edit: The only difference is that every time Nicki has a singing hook it doesn't say featuring Ester Dean.