From various dating rumors to self-made personalities, this is the truth about Nicki Minaj:
14.
Early Life
This star was born with the name Onika Tanya Maraj on December 8, 1982.
She originated in Saint James, Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago.
She lived with her grandmother when she was little but moved to Queens, New York with
her mother at five years old because her mom was going to Monroe College.
Nicki eventually started attending LaGuardia High School in Manhattan, which is a school
for performing and visual arts.
After she received her diploma, she wanted to pursue an acting career.
In 2001, Minaj got a part in the play In Case You Forget.
Throughout her late teens, she found it difficult to become successful in acting and had various
jobs to make money.
She worked at a Red Lobster in the Bronx as a waitress; but, she was soon let go for being
rude to customers.
Minaj recalls losing “at least 15 jobs” for the same thing.
Perhaps her rebellious ways are due to her upbringing; during an interview on The View,
she stated, “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.”
Whatever the case, her spunkiness and attitude are a couple of the things that garner her
a lot of attention nowadays.
13.
Rise to Fame
Nicki Minaj was originally signed with Full Force, a group of hip-hop artists, R&B singers,
and producers from New York City.
After doing some work with them, she started uploading music to Myspace and tried to send
songs to various people working in the music industry.
In 2007, she signed a 180-day contract with Dirty Money Entertainment.
That same year, she came out with Playtime is Over, her first mixtape.
A year later, she released her second mixtape, Sucka Free, which gained her some recognition,
and she won Female Artist of the Year at the Underground Music Awards.
In April 2009, she put out Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, and it received attention
from MTV and BET.
In August of that year, Lil Wayne decided to sign her to Young Money Entertainment.
After releasing singles like “Your Love,” “Check It Out,” and “Right Thru Me”
in 2010, Nicki had seven songs on Billboard’s Hot 100 list simultaneously; she was the first
solo female artist to do so.
In November 2010, she dropped her debut studio album, Pink Friday.
Since then, Minaj has come out with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, The Pinkprint, and Queen,
all of which have been highly successful.
12.
Drake
Rumors of a Nicki Minaj and Drake romance have been circulating for a long time; so,
let’s get down to what really happened with these two famous musicians.
Drake first mentioned Nicki in his album Thank Me Later, in which he rapped, “I hope one
day we get married just to say we… did it.”
Later on, Drake admitted his crush during an interview on MTV2’s Sucker Free Countdown.
The two even started playing around with the idea of marriage on Twitter, and to back it
up, they pretended to marry in her “Moment 4 Life” music video.
However, after continuing to flirt and play around with the idea of getting hitched, things
went downhill for Minaj and Drake.
In 2013, he rapped in the song “Tuscan Leather” that he and Nicki weren’t talking anymore
but assured everyone that he didn’t mention her with spiteful intentions.
Later that year, they were best friends once more.
They even gave several risque performances together, and Nicki gave him a personal dance
in her video for “Anaconda.”
Then, after she started dating Meek Mill, feuding caused the two to stop talking again.
But, Minaj and Mill split up, and she’s been getting close with Drake all over again.
They even recorded a clip together recently, during which Drake makes fun of her work with
rapper 6ix9ine.
Who knows, maybe we’ll see a real romance in the future!
11.
Hoodstars
Hoodstars was a group made up of Nicki Minaj, Scaff Beezy, Loustar, and Seven Up.
It was her first real introduction to the music business, and she joined them in early
2000s after signing with Full Force.
They came out with a couple of songs, like “Hands Up” in 2001; but, they didn’t
stay together for long.
After the split, Seven Up was put behind bars at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, Loustar
kept pursuing music, Nicki worked odd jobs and continued recording, and Scaff Beezy,
aka Safaree Samuels, helped Minaj as her hype man.
10.
Nicki Minaj Game
Although you’ve probably heard a lot about Minaj, did you know that she has her own mobile
game?
That’s right; she released an app in 2016 called Nicki Minaj: The Empire.
The goal of the game is to work on your reputation as an artist and entertainer, meanwhile chatting
with other players, recording your own vocals for beats, and decorating your virtual apartment.
Apparently, Nicki Minaj listens to some of the recordings herself, giving people a chance
to get their talent noticed through a free application.
9.
Safaree Samuels
Nicki Minaj and Safaree Samuels met when she joined the group Hoodstars in the early 2000s.
However, the relationship didn’t stay professional.
According to Complex, the two began dating in 2004.
Although much of their romance stayed under wraps, some things eventually came to light.
In 2011, the two reportedly had a fight in Dallas, and Nicki stated that Samuels struck
her with a suitcase.
Despite this incident, rumors of them being engaged started floating around that same
year, but neither party verified anything.
Then, in 2014, the duo celebrated their 10-year anniversary.
Later that year, Minaj and Samuels reportedly broke up.
A year after that, Safaree notedly planned to sue Nicki because he said he played a significant
role in a lot of her songs and received no credit; he dropped the suit in 2016 but still
claimed that she wouldn’t have become so successful without his help, which he said
on Wendy Williams in 2017.
In August 2018, Nicki interviewed with Hot97 to discuss multiple things, including the
issues with Safaree.
When asked about Samuels’ role in Hoodstars, she called their old group-mate, Loustar,
to clear some things up.
Both he and Nicki both affirmed that nobody, including Safaree, had ever helped her write
any of her raps.
8.
Movies
Although she has been hugely successful in the music business, she has pursued some of
her acting goals as well since she gained recognition.
She played Draya in Barbershop: The Next Cut, Lydia in The Other Woman, and voiced Steffie
in Ice Age: Continental Drift.
She might not have won any awards for her movie roles, but they definitely showed her
talent range.
7.
Alter Egos
You have probably heard that Nicki Minaj has several different nicknames, but did you know
that she considers them her “alter egos”?
Well, either way, we’re going to go over the various characters Minaj has created throughout
her life.
Apparently, it all started when she was a kid; her parents often fought during her childhood,
and she would escape her reality by taking on the persona of imagined people.
Minaj recalled that her first alter ego was named Cookie, which turned to Harajuku Barbie
and eventually became Nicki Minaj.
In 2010, she became Nicki Teresa and called herself “healer to her fans.”
She introduced Rosa that same year, who was meant to memorialize her Lopez Tonight appearance.
Another one of her characters is Roman Zolanski, who she becomes when she’s mad.
This one has been compared to Slim Shady, Eminem’s famous alter ego, and even has
a made-up mother named Martha Zolanski.
6.
Parents & Siblings
Although we’ve heard a lot about Nicki Minaj, many of us don’t know anything about her
family life.
Her mother’s name is Carol Maraj; she is a gospel singer.
Her father’s name is Robert Maraj, and he is a financial executive, working as a gospel
singer part-time.
Minaj has recalled her father’s problems with addictions and his fierce temper, which
created a lot of turmoil when she was a child.
She also has four siblings, Jelani Maraj, Micaiah Maraj, Brandon Lamar, and Ming Maraj.
Jelani is her older brother and was charged with an incredibly offensive crime against
his 11-year-old stepdaughter in late 2017; he is facing up to life in prison.
Her younger brother, Micaiah, plays drums and is popular on social media.
Minaj stated during an interview with HOT 107 in New York that Brandon is her half-brother;
he does some rapping and acting himself.
Ming Maraj is Nicki’s little sister, and the two look a lot alike!
There have been reports of Minaj having other siblings, but nothing is verified yet.
5.
Net Worth
Nicki Minaj’s unique sound and original material gained her a lot of recognition,
and she rose to the top of the charts.
Her successful singles and albums have made her a household name, and she keeps proving
herself time and again by pushing the limits of the rap genre.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she has the money to show for it.
As of 2017, Nicki’s net worth was $75 million.
4.
Influences & Style
As stated before, Minaj is widely recognized for her one-of-a-kind sound.
She is very animated when it comes to performing, and she has a distinctive rhythm that sets
her apart from other rappers.
She incorporates singing and rapping into her songs; plus, she uses metaphors and different
types of wordplay to enhance her rhymes.
Nicki also mixes elements of electronic music into her songs to further separate herself
from other artists.
Her alter ego plays a large part in her music’s singularity as well.
Minaj attributes much of her artistic influences to Jay-Z and Foxy Brown.
She stated in an interview with Kiss FM UK that “I really loved [Foxy Brown] as a female
rapper.
I was really interested in her mind and her aura...I was really, really into Jay-Z.
Me and my friends in high school, we were reciting all of the Jay lyrics.
His words were our words in our conversations all the time.”
Minaj also noted that, for herself, Foxy Brown was “the most influential female rapper.”
For acting, she was influenced by Jada Pinkett Smith.
Other artists that inspired her are R&B singer Monica, Kanye West, Beyonce, Drake, and Trina.
Nicki Minaj is also famous for her out-of-this-world fashion-sense; she has stated that Betsey
Johnson and Cyndi Lauper both played major roles in her fashion choices.
3.
Awards
Since she is so successful, it isn’t shocking that Nicki Minaj has won numerous awards for
her work.
She has won six American Music Awards, eleven BET Awards, eight BET Hip-Hop Awards, four
Billboard Music Awards, and many, many more.
Her first album, Pink Friday, was triple platinum certified in March 2016 by the RIAA.
Her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, was noted as double platinum by the RIAA at
the same time.
Minaj’s third record, The Pinkprint, was also certified double platinum by the same
organization.
Nicki’s most recent album, Queen, hasn’t reached platinum status yet, but who’s to
say it won’t happen soon?
There’s pretty much nothing this star can’t accomplish.
2.
Eminem
More recently, there have been rumors that Nicki Minaj and Eminem might be romantically
involved… it seems like her relationship status is always a hot topic, and this didn’t
change after she performed alongside the “Lose Yourself” rapper for the song “Big Bank”
in May 2018.
After hearing the lyrics, “Told ‘em I met Slim Shady, bag the M/ Once he go black,
he’ll be back again,” people everywhere began wondering whether or not these two artists
were dating.
Minaj and Eminem fired up the rumors even more on Twitter; Nicki responded to fans that
they were dating and Eminem commented, “Girl, you know it’s true.”
She then responded to his comment with “Babe, I thought we were gonna keep in on the low
til the wedding.
Yikes.
I’ll talk to you when I get home.”
Although these flirtatious statements were just light-hearted jokes, Eminem called out
Nicki during a show in Boston; he stated, “Boston, how many of you want me to date
Nicki Minaj?...
Well… me too.
Nicki, if you get this message, just text me later, we’ll talk about it.”
Nothing was ever confirmed that the stars were indeed together, but, who knows, maybe
they will be farther down the road.
Two things are certain: they both make great music and work well together.
1.
Tekashi 6ix9ine
Some of the most recent news concerning Nicki Minaj is her collaboration with rapper Tekashi69.
This rainbow-haired artist has been facing severe accusations in court.
Due to his current problems, his work with Nicki Minaj for the song “FEFE” stirred
up controversy.
In the video, the two are seen engaging in childlike activities, like sharing an ice
cream cone in a Willy-Wonka-type setting.
This generated backlash because Tekashi’s charge dealt with a 13-year-old girl’s presence
in a video that he was part of.
He has claimed on different occasions that he was unaware of her age and that he was
only charged because he was present while the girl was there.
However, he ultimately pled guilty as part of a plea deal.
Whatever the case, this collaboration put a damper on Minaj’s most recent album and
her reputation.