I listen to hip-hop and browse hip-hop related forums every day and I swear to you that I've never seen this woman's name outside of threads detailing her current Twitter beefs.
As for the statue: I have mad respect for Nikki as an artist and person, but this is simply a representation of an image she proudly aligns herself with in public. She's probably done this pose herself in half of her music videos, if not more than that. If she doesn't have an issue with this image, I don't know why anyone else should.
Sexist? I understand why people would have an issue with the misogynist tones this pose can carry, but that's only one half of the coin--Nikki often does this sort of thing and is smart enough to not just be doing it for the male audience's pleasure. If this pose were used for a statue of another popular female figure who didn't often present this image of herself, I'd be right there with you.
Racist? Whatever, man.