About Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty , known professionally as Nicki Minaj , is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, and songwriter based in the United States. Often referred to as the "Queen of Rap", she is known for her dynamic rap flow, witty lyrics, musical versatility, and alter egos. She first gained recognition after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009.
Minaj's critically acclaimed debut studio album, Pink Friday , topped the US Billboard 200 chart, while its 12-times platinum-certified single "Super Bass" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. Her follow-up album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded , explored dance-pop, debuted at number one in both the UK and US, and yielded the international top-ten single "Starships". Minaj's 2014 single "Bang Bang" became the first female collaboration to be certified diamond in the US. Her third album, The Pinkprint , marked a return to her hip hop roots and spawned the single "Anaconda", which peaked at number two on the Hot 100. Queen , Minaj's fourth album, produced the US top-ten single "Chun-Li". She achieved her first two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles in 2020 with the collaborations "Say So" and "Trollz" ; the former was the first female rap collaboration to top the chart. In 2022, she garnered her first solo US number-one with "Super Freaky Girl", the lead single from her fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2 , which also debuted atop the Billboard 200. To promote the album, Minaj embarked on the Pink Friday 2 World Tour in 2024, which became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time by a female rapper.
Minaj is one of the world's best-selling music artists and the best-selling female rapper worldwide, with over 100 million records sold. Billboard ranked her as the top-selling female rapper of the 2010s and the greatest female rapper of all time. Minaj has the largest album sales week of the 21st century; the highest-certified song by the RIAA; most number-one albums , top-ten songs , and Hot 100 chart entries ; among female rappers in the US. She is the only woman to achieve the highest female rap album sales week of two decades in the US, the second-highest-certified female rapper of all time on the RIAA's Top Artists ranking, and has over 100 million certified units sold in the US. Her various accolades include a Brit Award, five Billboard Music Awards, nine American Music Awards, eight MTV Video Music Awards , 12 BET Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, three Guinness World Records, and 12 Grammy Award nominations. In 2016, Time named Minaj one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Throughout her career, her outspoken views, feuds with several rappers, personal life, and fanbase have received significant media attention.
Outside of music, Minaj became the creative director for Maxim in 2022, founded the Heavy On It Records imprint in 2023, and is a co-owner of sneaker brand Loci since 2024. Her other endeavors include a fragrance line, press on nails line, a sneakers collection, collaborative snacks and beauty products, the radio show Queen Radio , and roles in the animated films Ice Age: Continental Drift and The Angry Birds Movie 2 , and the comedy films The Other Woman and Barbershop: The Next Cut . On television, she served as a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol .
Onika Tanya Maraj was born on December 8, 1982, in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Her father was Robert Maraj , a financial executive and part-time gospel singer of Dougla descent. Her mother, Carol, is also a gospel singer with Afro-Trinidadian ancestry. Carol worked in payroll and accounting departments during Minaj's youth. Minaj's father was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine and had a violent temper, burning down their house in December 1987. She has an older brother named Jelani, a younger brother named Micaiah, and a younger sister named Ming.
As a child, Minaj and Jelani grew up with their grandmother in Saint James in a household with 11 cousins. Carol was working numerous jobs in Saint James before getting her green card at the age of 24. She then moved to the Bronx in New York to attend Monroe College, leaving both Minaj and Jelani in Trinidad with their grandmother. Eventually, when Minaj was five, Carol got her first house, on 147th Street in South Jamaica, Queens and brought both Minaj and Jelani to live with her and their father. Minaj said she came to the United States as an illegal immigrant, although by the time she moved to the United States her mother and subsequently her father had lawful permanent residency. Minaj recalled, "I don't think I had a lot of discipline in my household. My mom motivated me, but it wasn't a strict household. I kind of wanted a strict household." Minaj successfully auditioned for admission to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, which focuses on visual and performing arts. After graduation, Minaj wanted to become an actress, and she was cast in the Off-Broadway play In Case You Forget in 2001.
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