The countdown for Nicki Minaj's The Pink Print has officially begun. On Wednesday (May 21), the reigning rap queen released the album's first single, "Pills n Potions," and revealed part of her inspiration for the upcoming LP.

"I think everybody knows how obsessed I am with Jay Z. He's always been my favorite rapper -- him and Wayne," Nicki started to explain when she sat down with Big Boy's Neighborhood on Power 106 in Los Angeles earlier today.

"He did such a great job of creating this Blueprint brand for male rappers, I felt. And I studied a lot of his blueprint, just in terms of becoming a mogul," Nicki added.

Hov released his first The Blueprint album in 2001, a 13-track LP considered a classic by many rap fans. Jay then followed up with The Blueprint 2 a year later and The Blueprint 3 in 2009; the series of albums have become synonymous with the MC's brand and help him become the businessman he is today.

With The Pink Print, Nicki hopes to set her own standard in hip-hop. "I wanted to do that, I wanted to be like Jay Z. I felt like with what I'm doing, I want female rappers to be able to pattern themselves with what I've done one day," she said. "And I think the album is soooo classic, it's gonna feel so good and it will probably be one that female rappers will look to as a 'pink print' for years to come."

Female MCs will have to wait a little while before they're able to get the full inspiration that Minaj is offering though. The Pink Print is due out later this year, and Nicki still isn't ready to give us a concrete release date.

"Nowadays, in this era, people want things so quickly," she said, snapping her fingers to emphasize her point. "We don't even absorb anything. We're never in the moment, ever. We're always in the future. So, I don't want them to think about the release date, I want them thinking about the music. 'Pills n Potions' just came out -- let's talk about that."