Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj
Birth name	Onika Tanya Maraj
Born	December 8, 1982 (1982-12-08) Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Origin	Queens, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, pop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, singer, actress
Years active	2007-present
Labels	Young Money, Cash Money, Republic
Associated acts	Drake, Lil Wayne, Meek Mill

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer and actress. Born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, Minaj earned public attention after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009. She signed a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment in 2009. 

Minaj's debut studio album, Pink Friday, was released in 2010 and peaked at #1 on the US Billboard 200, and spawned the top-three single "Super Bass". During that time, Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, was released two years later and also topped the chart, with its lead single, "Starships", peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj made her acting debut in the 2012 animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift, and also had a supporting role in the 2014 film The Other Woman. In 2013, she was the main judge on the twelfth season of American Idol. Minaj's third studio album, The Pinkprint, was released in 2014 and was preceded by its second single, "Anaconda", which peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 and became her highest-charting single in the United States to date. Her fourth studio album, Queen, was released in 2018.

Public Image:

Early in her career, Minaj was known for her colorful costumes and wigs.

Minaj has been called as a "fashion icon" by Allure, Time, XXL and has been called a "camp style icon" by Refinery29. She has cited Alexander McQueen, Gianni Versace, and Christian Louboutin as her favorite designers. The Huffington Postdescribed her style as "risk-taking" and "far-out", with "bold sartorial choices"; Minaj has been included on the annual Maxim Hot 100 list several times. In 2014, Minaj underwent a reinvention in her image sporting a "natural" and "softer" look, wearing fewer wigs and less colourful costumes. She stated that she "went so far to the other side that there's only one place to go from there. You can either continue doing costumes or you can just say, "Hey guess what? This will shock them even more. Doing nothing will shock them even more"".

Her physique, notably her booty, has attracted significant attention from the media. Early in her career, she made autographing breasts part of her movement to empower women. In 2010, she said that although she originally felt obligated to mimic the provocative behavior of the "female rappers of [her] day", she intended to subdue her sexuality because she "[wants] people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You've got to have something else to go with that."

Minaj talked about feminism in an interview with Voguein 2015, saying "There are things that I do that feminists don't like, and there are things that I do that they do like. I don't label myself. I just say the truth about what I feel. I feel like women can do anything that they put their minds to." In 2018, an interview with Elle, in which she discussed sex workers, her own sex appeal, and sexuality in music and on social media, attracted criticism. In The New York Times Magazine, music critic Vanessa Grigoriadis said that Minaj "has become expert at modelling the ways that women can wield power in the industry. But she has also drawn attention to the ways in which power can be embodied by a woman standing up for herself and speaking her own mind."

The cover art and music video for her 2014 single, "Anaconda", attracted significant media attention upon release. The music video was viewed 19.6 million times in its first 24 hours of release. The Guardiancalled the video "racy" but noted that she "doesn't shy from ruffling her audience's feathers", while others praised Minaj for "owning her sexuality", examining her work through a feminist perspective. Another writer for The Guardian said, of the "Anaconda" video, Minaj turns "the classic song into a conversation, and [refuses] to let the camera objectify her lap dance by keeping it zoomed out, at a distance."

Minaj's fanbase, known as the "Barbz", have been reported as often being militant towards Minaj's critics, including incidents reportedly involving cyberbullyingand death threats.

Artistry:

Minaj is known for her animated rapping style and "unique" flow. Her rapping is distinctive for its speed and the use of alter egos and accents, primarily British cockney. She often both sings and raps in her songs, and has made use of metaphors, punch lines, and word play. The alter egos are incorporated with her lyrics in British accents (Roman Zolanski) or soft-spokenness (Harajuku Barbie). Ice-T said about Minaj's rapping style, "[Minaj] does her thing. She has her own way of doing it. She has an ill vocal delivery. She kind of reminds me of a female Busta Rhymes, like how she throws her voice in different directions."

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called Minaj "a sparkling rapper with a gift for comic accents and unexpected turns of phrase. She's a walking exaggeration, outsize in sound, personality and look. And she's a rapid evolver, discarding old modes as easily as adopting new ones." Although many critics describe her technique as bubblegum rap, Minaj said: "What people don't know is that before I was doing that craziness I was doing me, I was just doing regular sounding rap that anyone could hear and identify with. But once I started doing all that weird shit—I'm not mad at it because it got everyone's attention." Robby Seabrook III of XXL included Minaj in list of "most unique flows from rappers over the last five years", saying that she "has solidified her spot as a leader of the pack for her animated flows, inspiring many other women in hip-hop to play with their vocals. She goes from campy to bellicose, excited to eccentric, oftentimes all on one song."

Noted as a rap artist, she also occasionally lends herself to electronic music genres (especially electropop).Pink Friday marked her exploration of the genres, spawning electro songs including the pop-laden "Super Bass". Also combining rap with synthesizer music, Minaj's second album, Pink Friday Roman Reloaded, had a number of electro-hop and electro pop songs: "HOV Lane", "Whip It", "Automatic", "Come on a Cone", "Young Forever", "Fire Burns", "Roman Holiday", "The Boys" and "Beez in the Trap";while "Starships" is a eurodance song.

Her verse on Kanye West's "Monster" was critically acclaimed and contributed greatly to her popularity; many critics said she had the best verse in the song. West claimed at one point he considered deleting her verse from the track, because he was worried it would outshine his own work:

It was like that moment when I thought about taking Nicki's verse off of 'Monster' because I knew people would say that was the best verse on the best Hip Hop album of all time or arguably top ten albums of all time. And I would do all that work, eight months of work on Dark Fantasy and people to this day would say to me 'My favorite thing was Nicki Minaj's verse'. So if I let my ego get the best of me instead of letting that girl get the shot to get that platform to be all she could be, I would take it off or marginalize her, try to stop her from having that shining moment…

Tara Colley of The Conversation described Minaj as a "pre-eminent female rapper" and that she has "consistently straddled the distinct personas of gangsta boss and sexy pop siren without truly committing to either" and that "her chameleonic ability" matches "some of rap's most verbose, witty, filthy and pop-friendly" stars such as Eminem and Lil Wayne. Zoe Johnson of XXL, stated that in recent years Minaj's "beat selection has moved to refined production full of grit and hip-hop flare in recent years".

Alter egos

"Roman Zolanski" redirects here. Not to be confused with Roman Polanski.

With her parents frequently fighting during her childhood, Minaj lived through characters she created as a means of escape. She recalled that "fantasy was my reality" and her first identity was Cookie, who became Harajuku Barbie and (later) Nicki Minaj. In November 2010, Minaj assumed the alter ego Nicki Teresa, wearing a colorful headdress and calling herself "healer to her fans" during a visit to the Garden of Dreams Foundation at Fuse Studios in New York.She introduced another alter ego, Rosa (pronounced with an exaggerated R), to commemorate her December 2010 appearance on Lopez Tonight.

One of Minaj's most well-known alter-egos is "a demon inside her" named Roman Zolanski (named after film director Roman Polanski with modified surname), Minaj's "twin brother", whose character she assumes when she is angry. Roman has been compared to Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady, and on "Roman's Revenge" Minaj and Eminem collaborate as their alter egos. On her next album, she said that there would be a lot of Roman: "And if you're not familiar with Roman, then you will be familiar with him very soon. He's the boy that lives inside of me. He's a lunatic and he's gay and he'll be on there a lot." Roman has a mother, Martha Zolanski, who appeared on "Roman's Revenge" with a British accent and singing on "Roman Holiday" for the first time.Martha appeared in the "Moment 4 Life" video as Minaj's apparent fairy godmother.

Influences:

According to Minaj, rappers Jay-Z Foxy Brown and Lil Wayne are her three biggest influences.

Jada Pinkett Smith is one of Minaj's role models in her acting career. Minaj was inspired by R&B singer Monica, singing "Why I Love You So Much" at every talent show she entered. While performing in Atlanta as part of her Pink Friday Tour, she called Monica one of her all-time greatest musical influences. Lauryn Hill is also one of Minaj's major influences, with Minaj quoting her lyrics in a high school yearbook.

She called Betsey Johnson a fashion inspiration: "[Betsey] is a free spirit. When I met her the other day, I felt like I knew her for my whole life. She's so warm and considerate and caring. She's amazingly talented and I've been wearing her clothes forever, so to meet her was like, 'Yay!' [I was] bowing down to her; she's dope!" Minaj has also expressed appreciation for Cyndi Lauper's style and how her videos inspired her as a teenager: "When I first went to get my hair colored, I was about 14 and I wanted blonde highlights. The beautician said, 'No, you have to get your mother on the phone,' and I was just crying and begging. I've always been experimenting. Cyndi Lauper's videos – that's what intrigued me.

Accolades and Achievements:

Minaj is the recipient of numerous accolades, including eight American Music Awards, twelve BET Awards, seven BET Hip Hop Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, six MTV Europe Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, one Soul Train Music Award, The MTV Micheal Jackson Video Vanguard Award and four Teen Choice Awards. Minaj has received a total of 10 Grammy Award nominations. She received her first Grammy nomination in 2010 for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("My Chick Bad" with Ludacris). In 2012, Minaj received three nominations, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album (Pink Friday). In 2014, she received her second nomination for Best Rap Album (The Pinkprint). She has won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Videofour times ("Super Bass", "Anaconda", "Chun-Li" and "Do We Have a Problem?") and has won the Best Female Video Award once ("Starships"). Minaj is the first woman to have appeared on the Forbes "Hip Hop Cash Kings" list since its inception in 2007, having made four consecutive appearances between 2011 and 2014.

In 2010, Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously, and the first woman to appear on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List since its inception in 2007. In 2011, Minaj was ranked sixth on the Rolling Stone master ranking of the "Kings of Hip Hop" which is based on record sales and social media metrics. She is the only rapper to win the BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist seven consecutive times. In 2013, Minaj became the most-charted female rapper on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time, with 44 entries, tying Mariah Carey as seventh among women of all genres.

Minaj has twenty-one top 10 singles on the chart, the most for any female rapper, with six of those being solo songs. In 2017, Minaj broke the record for most Hot 100 entries by any female artist, surpassing Aretha Franklin, and in 2018, she became the first female artist to accumulate 100 entries on the Hot 100. She held the mentioned record for most Hot 100 entries by a female artist until it was broken in December 2020 by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She is the female artist with the second-most Hot 100 entries, behind Swift. In 2019, Billboard Women in Music awarded her with the Game Changer Award.

In 2019, her collaboration with Karol G, named "Tusa", received two nominations at the Latin Grammys.The song became the longest-running number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100, having spent 25 weeks on the position. In 2020, Minaj become the second female rapper to chart at number one on the Hot 100 more than once with her 6ix9ine collaboration "Trollz". She also became the second female to debut atop the chart since Lauryn Hill in 1998. In the same year, she also was the most streamed female rapper on Spotify. In 2021, the music video for "Anaconda" became the first female rap solo song to reach one billion views on YouTube.

In total, Minaj has eight music videos with more than one billion views across all credits on YouTube, becoming the first female rapper to do so. She is only one of two female artists to have eight music videos reaching more than one billion views, tying with Rihanna. In 2016, she was listed on the Time 100 annual list of the most influential people in the world. She was also featured on one of the physical covers of the issue. Complex ranked her eighth on their list of best rappers of the 2010s, being the only female rapper on the list, and named her "Best Rapper Alive" of 2014.

Discography

Studio albums

• 2010: Pink Friday
• 2012:[[Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded]]
• 2014: The Pinkprint
• 2018: Queens