Before Nicki Minaj was the queen of hip-hop, she was a tough, baseball cap-wearing spitfire from Queens, N.Y. Evidence of that recently surfaced online in an unearthed video called 'Dirty Money.'

The clip was filmed during her grinding years as an underground rapper. Nicki is spitting hot fire over an instrumental to Terror Squad's song 'Yeah Yeah Yeah.' She raps, "Yes, I'm the one, the motherf---ing one / Hold more weight than the late Big Pun."

She then shows her lyrical versatility by flipping a few bars a cappella style. "Hood star broad / black Barbie doll / Pardon me, if the cockiness is bothering, y'all," she raps. From watching the video, you can tell that even back then, she was 'hood but still exhibited confidence in her lyrical flow. However, there are some folks who would contend that Minaj has lost some of her hardcore luster since becoming a "hip-pop" star.

If you ever wondered how the Harajuku Barbie came up in the rap game, here's a good look at her before the colored hair, interesting costumes and colorful videos.

Watch the Nicki Minaj 'Dirty Money' Video

More From PopCrush