Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982)better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj (pronounced /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a rapper and singer-songwriter who was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, but moved to the Queens borough of New York City as a child and graduated from LaGuardia High School in 2003. She released her first mixtape Playtime Is Over in 2007, which was followed by Sucka Free and Beam Me Up Scotty in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Minaj was discovered by fellow American rapper Lil Wayne and signed a deal to Young Money Entertainment with distribution from Universal Motown in August 2009
Her debut studio album Pink Friday (2010) became a commercial success, peaking atop of the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release She became the first artist ever to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time Her second single, "Your Love", reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002 She also became the first female artist to be included Annual Hottest
1 Early life
2 Music career
2.1 2007–09: Career beginnings and mixtapes
2.2 2010–present: Pink Friday
3 Musical style and image
3.1 Image
3.2 Alter egos
3.3 Influences
4 Personal life
5 Discography
6 Awards and nominations
7 References
8 External links
Minaj was born in 1982 in Saint James (a suburb of Trinidad and Tobago's capital city Port of Spain). Her parents were of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian ancestry and she lived in Saint James with her grandmother until age five, because her parents were looking for a place to live in the Queens borough of New York City at the time. Her mother would occasionally visit, and one day, when Minaj was five, her mother picked her up to move to Queens.According to Minaj, her father drank heavily, took drugs, and once tried to kill her mother by setting the house on fire
She attended Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210, where she played the clarinet. She graduated from LaGuardia High School LaGuardia, a school specializing in music and the visual and performing arts, Minaj participated in the drama program She had initially planned to sing at LaGuardia, but lost her voice on the day of the audition
Music career
2007–09: Career beginnings and mixtapes
Nicki Minaj released her first mixtape in 2007, after releasing, Playtime Is Over with Dirty Money Records. She later released another mixtape on July 7, 2008, titled Sucka Free, under the label of Be. On April 18, 2009, Minaj released a third mixtape and appeared in XXL magazine.In 2008 she won the Female Artist of the Year award at the Underground Music Awards. Minaj released Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, in April 2009 under the label of Trapaholics Records. Beam Me Up Scotty received positive coverage on both BET and
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj