Early in her show Friday night at American Airlines Center, Nicki Minaj called a timeout.

She was barely two songs into her marathon, 32-song set when she stopped the show cold.

“How are you Dallas? I love you too much to perform with my voice like this,” Minaj told the packed house filled with mostly women and men in their 20s and 30s. “So we’ve got to give me two minutes so I can get some tea.”

Minaj, the 40-year-old Queen of Rap, requested some hot tea and honey from backstage but help was slow in coming.

After she was brought cold water and no honey, Minaj jokingly asked, “Who from Dallas needs a job?”

“You guys are good if we stay a little over midnight, right? We’re going to have an amazing, magical … time,” she said to ecstatic cheers while vamping during the wait, which ended up taking about 10 minutes.

In what could have turned into an absolute diva moment for Minaj, instead, evolved into an endearing, honest exchange between performer and fan. She asked fans near the front of her catwalk stage that jutted more than halfway across the AAC floor for suggestions for songs she rarely performs. She also reminded the crowd that Friday was supposed to an off night for her, but her originally scheduled show for Saturday was moved up because the Dallas Mavericks are hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their NBA playoff series on Saturday afternoon.

And just like Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who is playing hurt, Minaj wasn’t going to let a sore throat ruin the evening.

“I promise you were going to have an amazing show, Dallas,” she assured us after proper drink finally arrived. “Let me tell you something, [stuff] like this is only going to make me go the hardest I’ve ever … gone before in my life. Watch.”

She stayed true to her word, singing, rapping, and dancing during a nearly two and a half hour show that didn’t end until 1:25 a.m.

Not that her fans were bothered.

The native of the Caribbean island Trinidad and Tobago who moved to Queens, N.Y., at age 5 is the most successful female rapper in the world, blending female empowerment, feistiness and good humor in her often wickedly witty rhymes.

Her elaborate, three-level stage, which included a drummer high atop one side and a DJ/keyboardist on the other was backed by a massive videoboard that blocked the entire south end of the arena.

Dallas was her 34th of 36 shows on the Pink Friday 2 Tour in North America in support of her December release “Pink Friday 2,” which is a sequel to her 2010 debut studio album “Pink Friday.” She plays Austin on Sunday and Oklahoma City on Monday before heading for a European leg through July.

If her throat was bothering her, it didn’t sound like it while performing 14 tracks from her latest release. Her costume changes were extravagant and sexy, even if they seemed excessively long for a show nearing 1 a.m. At various moments of the show, Minaj was strutting around the stage in a black bodysuit, a pink formal gown, an Far East-inspired kimono, and a fighters robe — each with matching stiletto-heeled boots and mood-altering wigs.

“God bless you for your patience,” Minaj said late in the evening.

She was probably referring to her throat delay, which may have also contributed to some rather lengthy costume changes that were long enough for fans to sit down. A five-minute pause in the middle of a concert, no matter how smooth the background beat, is a lot to ask of any audience. The extended breaks threatened to stifle the show’s momentum.

Her seven-song finale, however, quickly left fans breathless as they sang along and back to her. She asked for their help and the approximately 17,000 in attendance, many waving Nicki Minaj flags, gleefully obliged at the top of their lungs.

The AAC, which about 12 hours later would be filled with basketball fanatics, was at times turned into a hot, sultry dance club, the venues lower bowl shaking during crowd-pleasers such as “Super Bass,” “The Night Is Still Young,” and show closer “Everybody.”

The star at the center of it all may have been ‘playing’ hurt, but she finished the night heroically.

Nicki Minaj setlist, Dallas, May 10, 2024

I’m the Best (shortened)
Barbie Dangerous
FTCU (restarted)
Beep Beep
Hard White (shortened)
Press Play
Win Again (shortened)
Big Difference (shortened — contains “Beez in the Trap”)
Pink Birthday
Feeling Myself
Favorite (shortened)
Cowgirl
RNB
High School

Needle (contains “Hold Yuh (Remix)“ by Gyptian)
Chun-Li (contains “Bahm Bahm” and “Darling Nikki” by Prince)
Red Ruby Da Sleeze (contains “Freaks” by French Montana)
Barbie World (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice with Aqua cover)
Roman’s Revenge (shortened)
Monster (Ye cover)
Fallin 4 U
Right Thru Me (shortened)
Save Me (shortened)
Here I Am (shortened)
Let Me Calm Down
Super Freaky Girl (shortened)
Anaconda (shortened)
Super Bass
The Night Is Still Young (shortened)
Moment 4 Life
Starships

Everybody