Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known officially as Nicki Minaj is a Trinidadian-born rapper, vocalist, and songwriter based in the US. Frequently referred to as the “Queen of Rap”, she is popular for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos, and influence in popular music. She first gained fame after releasing 3 mixtapes between 2007 and 2009.
Minaj’s first album, Pink Friday (2010), topped the US Billboard 200 chart; its single “Super Bass” Ranked on number 3 on US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified diamond by the RIAA. The follow-up album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012) explored dance-pop and debuted atop the Billboard 200, with its lead single “Starships” peaking in the top 5 widely.
Nicki’s 3rd album, The Pinkprint (2014), explored more personal topics and notable a return to her hip hop roots. Its reached single “Anaconda” Highest at number two on the Hot 100 and became the 1st music video by a single female rapper to reach one billion views on YouTube. She released her 4th album, Queen (2018) which head 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. She has featured on numerous songs and earned her first 2 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 single number-one with “Super Freaky Girl”, the lead single from her upcoming 5th studio album Pink Friday 2 (2023).
Minaj is one of the best-selling music vocalist, with more than 100 million records sold widely.
Billboard listed her as the top selling female rapper of the 2010s and one of the biggest rappers in history. Minaj has 20-two top 10 singles on the chart, the most for any female rapper, with 6 of those being single songs.
Her various awards additionally 8 American Music Awards, 5 MTV Video Music Awards (including the 2022 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), twelve BET Awards, 4 Billboard Music Awards, a Brit Award, 3 Guinness World Records and 10 Grammy nominations.
Apart from music, her movie and TV career has included voice characters in the animated movies Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), supporting portrayals in the movies, The Other Woman (2014) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016) and being an American Idol jury. In 2016, Time ranked her on their annual list of the 100 most inspirational people widely. Via all of her career, Minaj’s outspoken views, internet disputes and her fanbase have accepted significant media coverage.
Onika Tanya Maraj was born on December 8, 1982, in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Minaj’s dad was Robert Maraj (1956–2021), a financial executive and part-time gospel vocalist of Dougla (Afro-Trinidadian mom and Indo-Trinidadian father) descent.
Minaj’s mom, Carol, is also a gospel vocalist with Afro-Trinidadian ancestry. Carol worked in payroll and accounting departments while Minaj’s youth. Minaj’s dad was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine and had a short 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 kid, Minaj and Jelani grew up with their grandmother in Saint James in a household with 11 cousins. Carol was working many jobs in Saint James before getting her green card at the age of 24.
She then returned to the Bronx in NY to attend Monroe College, leaving both Minaj and Jelani in Trinidad with their grandmother. Finally, when Minaj was 5, Carol got her 1st house, on 147th Street in South Jamaica, Queens and brought both Minaj and Jelani to live with her and their dad. 
Minaj remembered, “I don’t think I had a lot of discipline in my household. My mother inspired me, but it wasn’t a strict household. I kind of desired 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. Later graduation, Minaj wanted to become an actress, and she was starred in the Off-Broadway play In Case You Forget in 2001.
Minaj has disclosed that she had an abortion as a teenager in her songs “All Things Go” and “Autobiography”. She has addressed that nevertheless it has “haunted” her, she stands by her decision. When she was 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 stated she was fired from “at least 15 jobs” for same reasons. Other jobs includes customer service representative and office management on Wall Street. Minaj recalls buying a BMW as a 19-year-old with the money from waitressing.
In February 2010, Minaj made her 1st 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 starred on “Bedrock” and “Roger That” on the compilation album, We Are Young Money (2009).
The singles went at numbers 2 and 56, respectively, in the U.S. Their parent album head at number 9 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 addressed that, during that time, she “became the go-to girl for artists who desired to add some skank to their tracks without sullying themselves in the process. Minaj became the 1st female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting in the U.S.
Minaj performed at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards where she also received her 4th MTV Video Music Award for the “Chun-Li” music video. The exact month, she featured on remix of “Idol” by South Korean boy band BTS.
