nicki_minaj_web.jpg(AP) — Nicki Minaj's New York City concert featured usual suspects like her mentor Lil Wayne and label mate Drake, but it was another guest appearance that was really striking: rapper Foxy Brown.

Brown joined Minaj onstage Tuesday night at the Roseland Ballroom. Before she took the stage, Minaj said she wanted to introduce “the female rapper who influenced me the most.”

As Brown entered, the crowd of nearly 3,000 roared. She performed three songs from her last album, 2001’s Broken Silence.

“Broken Silence” changed my life,'' Minaj said. “I always loved Foxy. When she put out Broken Silence, I knew she was an innovator.”

The Queens-based Minaj added that although Brown is “crazy sometimes,” she’s also ahead of her time.

Minaj has dominated as music’s top female rapper since 2009.