Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, and songwriter based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. An influential figure 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. Minaj’s 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 five worldwide. Her third album, The Pinkprint (2014), explored more personal topics and marked a return to her hip hop roots. Its lead single “Anaconda” peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and became the first music video by a solo female rapper to reach one billion views on YouTube. She 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 featured on many 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 achieved her first solo number-one with “Super Freaky Girl” from her upcoming fifth album Pink Friday 2 (2023).

Referred to as the “Queen of Rap”, 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 the greatest female rapper of all time. She has twenty-two top 10 singles on the chart, the most for any female rapper, with six of those being solo songs. 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 ten 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. 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 and social media disputes have received significant media coverage.

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.

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;[35] 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.