Birthday: December 8, 1982
Birthplace: Saint James, Trinidad & Tobago
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
You may know firecracker Nicki Minaj from her hit single with rapper Drake “Moment 4 Life” or from her guest spots rapping on singles like “Bed Rock,” and now you can get to know her even better!
Palm Trees to NYC
Nicki Minaj, born Onika Tanya Maraj, spent most of her childhood growing up in Queens in New York City, but up until she was five she lived on the Caribbean island of Trinidad with her Grandmother. Even at a young age Nicki was naturally talented and attended a high school that nurtured artists.
Because she came from a troubled home Nicki threw herself into performance, learning drama and music and even created alter egos , more than one which she still uses for her music today—“Nicki Minaj” is one of them!
Pink Friday to Pink Print
Nicki started making mixtapes in 2007 and released them on smaller labels, and was recognized as being so talented that there was a major bidding war to sign her! But eventually rapper Lil Wayne and his label Young Money Entertainment signed her and she got to work on her full length album Pink Friday, which came out at the end of 2010 and went platinum.
Since busting onto the scene with Pink Friday, life in the studio has been pretty "rosy" for Nicki: in 2012 she released Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded and in 2014 she took over the airwaves with her album The Pink Print featuring hits like "The Night is Still Young" and "Anaconda."
Musical Stylin’
Maybe it’s the drama queen in her, or the alter egos, or that fact that she’s brimming with creativity in every way, but no one can deny that Nicki has unforgettable style!
She told Interview magazine that "I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on [looks]. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.”
Fun Facts!
- In middle school Nicki used to play the clarinet!
- Some of Nicki’s influences include Foxy Brown, Missy Elliot, Lil Kim and of course, Lil Wayne!
- Nicki likes to create different alter egos for her music, like Nicki Theresa—a benevolent saint to her fans, and Harajuku Barbie.
- Nicki didn’t get into the arts high school at first because the day of auditions she lost her voice!
- Nicki started dating rapper Meek Mill in 2015
- Nicki has been known to start some fights over Twitter and even at award shows - just ask Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift.
