Nicki Minaj
Trinidadian rapper and singer
| Date of Birth | : | 08 Dec, 1982 |
| Place of Birth | : | Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Profession | : | Trinidadian Rapper, Singer |
| Nationality | : | Trinidadian |
| Social Profiles | : |
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Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj , is a Trinidadian-born[a] rapper and singer based in the United States. Often referred to as the "Queen of Rap", she is known for her musical versatility, animated rap flow, alter egos, and influence in popular music. She first gained recognition after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009.
Minaj's debut album, Pink Friday (2010), topped the US Billboard 200 chart; its single "Super Bass" reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified diamond by the RIAA. Its follow-up, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), explored dance-pop and debuted atop the Billboard 200. The album's lead single "Starships" became an international top-five hit and one of the best-selling singles in the US. Her next album, The Pinkprint (2014), explored personal topics and marked a return to her hip hop roots. Its single "Anaconda" peaked at number two in the US and became the first music video by a solo female rapper to reach one billion views on YouTube. Minaj released her fourth album Queen in 2018, which spawned the US top ten single "Chun-Li". In 2019, her collaboration with Karol G, "Tusa", became the longest-running number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100 chart. Minaj has been featured on various songs and achieved her first two Hot 100 number-one singles in 2020 with the collaborations "Say So" (with Doja Cat) and "Trollz" (with 6ix9ine). In 2022, she earned her first solo number-one with "Super Freaky Girl", preceding her fifth album Pink Friday 2 (2023), which debuted atop the Billboard 200.
Minaj is one of the best-selling music artists, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. Billboard ranked her as the top-selling female rapper of the 2010s and one of the greatest rappers of all time. She has twenty-three top 10 singles in the US, the most for any female rapper, with six of those being solo songs. Minaj is also the first and only female rapper to have 3 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 chart. Her various accolades include eight American Music Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (including the 2022 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), twelve BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, a Brit Award, three Guinness World Records and twelve Grammy nominations. Outside of music, her film and television career has included voice roles in the animated films Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), supporting roles in the films The Other Woman (2014) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016) and being an American Idol judge (2013). In 2016, Time included her on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Throughout her career, Minaj's outspoken views, social media disputes and her fanbase have received significant media coverage.
Life and career
1982–2003: Early life
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 (1956–2021), a financial executive and part-time gospel singer of Dougla (Afro-Trinidadian mother and Indo-Trinidadian father) 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 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.
Minaj has revealed that she had an abortion as a teenager in her songs "All Things Go" and "Autobiography". She has said that although it has "haunted" her, she stands by her decision. At the age of 19, as she struggled with her acting career, she worked as a waitress at a Red Lobster in the Bronx, but was fired for discourtesy to customers. She said she was fired from "at least 15 jobs" for similar reasons. Other jobs included customer service representative and office management on Wall Street. Minaj recalls buying a BMW as a 19-year-old with the money from waitressing.
2004–2009: Career beginnings and mixtapes
Further information: Playtime Is Over (mixtape), Sucka Free, and Beam Me Up Scotty (mixtape)
Minaj briefly signed with Brooklyn group Full Force, in which she rapped in a quartet called the Hoodstars composed of Lou$tar (son of "Bowlegged Lou"), Safaree Samuels (Scaff Beezy) and 7even Up. In 2004, the group recorded the entrance song for WWE Diva Victoria, "Don't Mess With", which was featured on the compilation album ThemeAddict: WWE The Music, Vol.6. Minaj later left Full Force and uploaded songs on her Myspace profile, sending several of her songs to people in the music industry. Later, Fendi, CEO of Brooklyn label Dirty Money Entertainment, signed Minaj to his label in 2007 under a 180-day contract. Originally adopting the stage name Nicki Maraj, she eventually changed it to Nicki Minaj stating that "my real name is Maraj. Fendi flipped it when he met me because I had such a nasty flow!"
Minaj released her first mixtape, Playtime Is Over, on July 5, 2007, and her second, Sucka Free, on April 12, 2008. She released her third mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, on April 18, 2009; it received favorable coverage on BET and MTV. At the time, she was managed by Debra Antney. One of its tracks, "I Get Crazy", reached number 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart and number 37 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. After Minaj was discovered by fellow rapper Lil Wayne, she signed a recording contract with his Young Money Entertainment. That November, she appeared with Gucci Mane and Trina on the remix of "5 Star Bitch" by Yo Gotti.
In early February 2010, Minaj made her first two appearances on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 chart with her features on "Knockout" and "Up Out My Face" by Lil Wayne and Mariah Carey respectively. Minaj also appeared on "BedRock" and "Roger That" on the compilation album, We Are Young Money (2009). The singles peaked at numbers two and 56, respectively, in the U.S. Their parent album reached number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). At Jay-Z's suggestion, Robin Thicke featured Minaj on his single "Shakin' It 4 Daddy". Allison Stewart of The Washington Post stated that, during that time, she "became the go-to girl for artists who wanted to add some skank to their tracks without sullying themselves in the process". Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting in the U.S.
Philanthropy
Katy Perry (left) and Minaj perform for service members during the 2010 VH1 Divas Salute the Troops concert.
In 2010, Minaj performed a cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", alongside singer Katy Perry, for service members during the 2010 VH1 Divas Salute the Troops concert. The two would later collaborate in 2017 on "Swish Swish". In 2011, Mattel created a Barbie doll with Minaj's likeness to auction for Project Angel Food, a charity that provides food for people afflicted with HIV and AIDS. In 2012, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Minaj donated $15,000 to the Food Bank For New York City and held a turkey drive at her alma mater, PS 45.
In May 2017, Minaj offered via Twitter to pay college tuition fees and student loans for 30 of her fans. She appeared to grant their requests, ranging from $500 to school supplies to $6,000 for tuition, promising to respond to more requests in a month or two. She also announced that she would launch an official charity for student loans and tuition payments in the near future. In the same month, Minaj revealed on Instagram that she has been donating money to a village in India for a few years via her pastor, Lydia Sloley. These donations helped the village get a computer center, a tailoring institute, a reading program, and two water wells. "This is the kind of thing that makes me feel the most proud", she said about the new additions to the village.
In August 2017, after Hurricane Harvey hit the city of Houston, Texas, Minaj answered a social media challenge by comedian and actor Kevin Hart and donated $25,000 to the Red Cross, saying she was "praying for everyone there". On September 4, 2018, Minaj appeared as a guest and performed several songs on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Throughout the episode, Minaj and Degeneres, with the participation of Walmart, gave out over $150,000 in donations to fans.
In 2019, Minaj pulled out of headlining a concert in Saudi Arabia following online backlash from activists, after women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was detained and arrested for speaking out against the Saudi regime. Minaj was praised by Thor Halvorssen of The Human Rights Foundation, who criticized her initial plan to perform in a letter, and released a statement saying, "After careful reflection ... I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression."
In 2020, Minaj donated $25,000 to the St. Jude's Home for Girls school after visiting the school in her native country of Trinidad. In a speech, Minaj encouraged the girls to push through hard obstacles, even referencing her own experience with domestic violence: "I've experienced being in a home with domestic violence. I've experienced, you know, being at a very difficult crossroads in my life as a teenager. And sometimes as a teenager when things happen, you feel like there's no up from there." In the same year, following the release of Minaj and 6ix9ine's collaboration, "Trollz", Minaj announced that a portion of the proceeds from the song, along with profits from all merchandise, will go towards the Bail Project amid the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
Gaming
A playable character model of Minaj in her "Red Ruby" persona was released as downloadable content to the first-person shooter video game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II in July 2023 alongside those of rappers Snoop Dogg and 21 Savage to commemorate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop music's origin; her character marked the first woman "operator" of the game.
On December 8, 2023, she and Roblox introduced the virtual world Gag City on the game platform to promote her fifth album, Pink Friday 2 (2023). Days before the launch, Minaj's fanbase, the Barbz, heavily circulated AI-generated content of the fan-made cityscape Gag City, a pink futuristic metropolis inspired by the cover artwork of the album.
COVID-19 vaccine controversy
In September 2021, Minaj announced she would not be attending the 2021 Met Gala due to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. She stated that she has avoided public appearances and traveling after contracting the virus herself and having to quarantine from her son as a result. She shared several tweets about her unvaccinated status and claimed she wanted to do more research and be comfortable with her decision first. She alleged in a Tweet that her cousin's friend in Trinidad suffered swollen testicles and became impotent as a result of the vaccine. These tweets received backlash where her story about her cousin's friend became the subject of jokes and memes. Trinidad and Tobago health minister Terrence Deyalsingh declared that her claims were false and that no such report existed.
Shortly after, Minaj recommended other people get the vaccine and set up a Twitter poll on COVID-19 vaccine brands. She tweeted that she was sure she would get vaccinated herself because of touring. The White House offered her a phone call with a doctor to answer questions about the safety of the vaccine. In an Instagram Live response two days later, she claimed that she was simply asking questions and she did not give any facts about the vaccine. Minaj alleged that reporters harassed her family for a story, with her sharing some text messages she alleged were harassment on social media. In May 2022, Olivia Truffaut-Wong of The Cut alleged that Minaj had gotten vaccinated, as the 2022 Met Gala (which Minaj attended) requires proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 PCR test to attend.
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