Nicki Minaj become iconic with Super Bass, her Pink Friday era, and Roman, plus her crazy hair and Anaconda. That's how she is iconic for me. Also, the highest selling black female rapper.
Why did you put 'black' ?
It's not like there's a white female rapper who sold more.
Nicki Minaj became an icon when she entered the Forbes Cash King List at number four with Birdman, Jay Z, and Diddy
She has yet to become a legend, but she will become one when she gets her first grammy and number one. And when she has an album that sells 5M+ copies WW.