Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, known professionally as Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, and songwriter based in the United States.
147 Facts About Nicki Minaj
2.
Nicki Minaj is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents.
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Nicki Minaj released her fourth album, Queen, in 2018 and it spawned the US top ten single "Chun-Li".
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Nicki Minaj became the first female artist to have one hundred Billboard Hot 100 entries and has twenty one top 10 hits on the Hot 100, the most for any female rapper.
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Nicki Minaj's father was Robert Maraj, a financial executive and part-time gospel singer of Dougla descent.
6.
Nicki Minaj's mother, Carol Maraj, is a gospel singer with Afro-Trinidadian ancestry.
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Nicki Minaj has an older brother named Jelani, a younger brother named Micaiah, and a younger sister named Ming.
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Nicki Minaj then moved to the Bronx in New York City to attend Monroe College, leaving both Minaj and Jelani in Trinidad with their grandmother.
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Nicki Minaj has revealed that she had an abortion as a teenager in her songs "All Things Go" and "Autobiography".
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Nicki Minaj has said that although it has "haunted" her, she stands by her decision.
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Nicki Minaj said she was fired from "at least 15 jobs" for similar reasons.
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Nicki Minaj recalls buying a BMW as a 19-year-old with the money from waitressing.
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Nicki Minaj briefly signed with Brooklyn group Full Force, in which she rapped in a quartet called The Hoodstars composed of Lou$tar, Safaree Samuels and 7even Up.
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Nicki Minaj later left Full Force and uploaded songs on her Myspace profile, sending several of her songs to people in the music industry.
15.
Nicki Minaj released her first mixtape, Playtime Is Over, on July 5,2007, and her second, Sucka Free, on April 12,2008.
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Nicki Minaj released her third mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, on April 18,2009; it received favorable coverage on BET and MTV.
17.
In early February 2010, Nicki Minaj made her first two appearances on the USBillboard Hot 100 chart with her features on "Knockout" and "Up Out My Face" by Lil Wayne and Mariah Carey respectively.
18.
Nicki Minaj appeared on "BedRock" and "Roger That" on the compilation album, We Are Young Money.
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Nicki Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting in the US.
20.
On March 29,2010, Nicki Minaj released "Massive Attack" featuring Sean Garrett.
21.
Nicki Minaj's verse received widespread acclaim with many critics regarding it as the best verse on that song.
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In November 2010, Nicki Minaj received her first Grammy Award nomination for her guest verse on Ludacris' song "My Chick Bad".
23.
Nicki Minaj performed "Right Thru Me" and "Moment 4 Life" as the musical guest on the January 29,2011, episode of Saturday Night Live.
24.
Early in her career, Nicki Minaj identified as bisexual and made several references to it in her music.
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Nicki Minaj was one of the opening acts on Britney Spears' 2011 Femme Fatale Tour.
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Nicki Minaj performed "Super Bass" at the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
27.
In December 2011, Nicki Minaj was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album for Pink Friday.
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Nicki Minaj was the first solo female rapper to perform at the Grammy Awards, performing "Roman Holiday" during the 2012 ceremony on February 12.
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Nicki Minaj began her headlining Pink Friday Tour on May 16,2012, which was followed by the Pink Friday: Reloaded Tour beginning October 14,2012.
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Nicki Minaj won awards for Best Female Video at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards and Best Hip-Hop at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards.
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In late 2014, Nicki Minaj separated from her longtime boyfriend Safaree Samuels, whom she had dated since 2003.
32.
Nicki Minaj began dating rapper Meek Mill in early 2015, shortly after her breakup with Samuels.
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On November 9,2014, Nicki Minaj hosted the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards in Glasgow, Scotland.
34.
Nicki Minaj won the Best Hip-Hop Award for a second time.
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At the 2015 BET Awards, Nicki Minaj won her sixth consecutive award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, becoming the female rapper with most wins in that category.
36.
In October 2016, Nicki Minaj stated the filming was postponed for undisclosed reasons.
37.
In February 2017, Nicki Minaj was featured on Jason Derulo's single "Swalla" which reached the top ten in several countries, including a peak of number six in the UK.
38.
In May 2017, Nicki Minaj opened the 2017 Billboard Music Awards with a medley performance that was described by Elias Leight of Rolling Stone as "flamboyantly produced" and "dexterous".
39.
Nicki Minaj featured on Katy Perry's "Swish Swish", which was certified platinum in the US and Canada.
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Nicki Minaj released "Chun-Li" and "Barbie Tingz" simultaneously on April 12,2018, with both reaching number ten and number twenty-five in the US respectively.
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Nicki Minaj performed "Chun-Li" on Saturday Night Live and the 2018 BET Awards.
42.
Additionally, Nicki Minaj appeared as a featured artist on the song "Fefe" along with Murda Beatz and Tekashi 6ix9ine.
43.
The day before the album's release, Nicki Minaj launched her own Beats 1 radio show, Queen Radio.
44.
Nicki Minaj later expressed frustration and criticized several people including Travis Scott, whose album Astroworld claimed the top spot for a second week in a row, blocking Queen from the top spot.
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Nicki Minaj alleged that Travis Scott sold shirts, merchandise, and ticket passes for an unnannounced tour to boost his album sales.
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Nicki Minaj performed at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards where she won her fourth MTV Video Music Award for the "Chun-Li" music video.
47.
Nicki Minaj featured on the song "Woman Like Me" by British girl group Little Mix, which was released on October 12,2018.
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Nicki Minaj was featured on "Dip" by American rapper Tyga which reached number sixty-three in the US making her the first female artist to have 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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Nicki Minaj later attended the year-end Billboard Women in Music event, receiving the Game Changer Award for the accomplishment.
50.
The next year in April 2019, Nicki Minaj made a surprise guest appearance at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival during Ariana Grande's set where they performed their collaborations "Side to Side" and "Bang Bang".
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Later that month, Nicki Minaj parted ways with her longtime management team after a mutual agreement, with American entertainment executive Irving Azoff serving as her new manager.
52.
In June 2019, Nicki Minaj released a standalone single titled "Megatron" along with an accompanying music video.
53.
Nicki Minaj had a voice role as Pinky in The Angry Birds Movie 2, which was released in August 2019.
54.
In January 2020, Nicki Minaj was featured on "Nice to Meet Ya" by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor.
55.
Nicki Minaj gave birth to a son on September 30,2020, whom she refers to publicly as "Papa Bear".
56.
Almost a month later, Nicki Minaj featured on rapper Ty Dolla Sign's track "Expensive".
57.
In May 2021, Nicki Minaj released a reissue of her mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty, including new songs previously unavailable on streaming services.
58.
Nicki Minaj later gave an interview about the accusations on the daytime talk show The Real.
59.
Nicki Minaj appeared on the song "Always Love You" with John and rapper Young Thug.
60.
In October 2021, Nicki Minaj appeared as a surprise host for the season six reunion of the reality television show The Real Housewives of Potomac.
61.
Nicki Minaj won the Best Hip Hop award in the MTV Europe Music Awards 2021, becoming the sixth time she has won this award.
62.
Nicki Minaj described it as "fun, gutta, and back to the basics".
63.
The next month, Nicki Minaj appeared on English television host James Corden's Carpool Karaoke segment, kickstarting its returning broadcast on The Late Late Show with James Corden after a two-year hiatus.
64.
In early July, Nicki Minaj did several live performances by headlining the 2022 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans and the 2022 Wireless Festival in London.
65.
Nicki Minaj revealed the song's title as "Super Freaky Girl" and the accompanying cover art for the song.
66.
On July 28,2022, she released a two-minute trailer of her upcoming six-part docu-series titled "Nicki Minaj", produced by Canadian production company Bron Studios.
67.
On September 9,2022, Nicki Minaj released a remix of "Super Freaky Girl" called "Queen Mix", which features 5 other female rappers: JT, BIA, Katie Got Bandz, Akbar V, and Maliibu Miitch.
68.
On October 6,2022, Nicki Minaj and Skeng released a remix of "Likkle Miss" called "THE FINE NINE REMIX" featuring Spice, Destra Garcia, Patrice Roberts, Lady Leshurr, Pamputtae, Dovey Magnum, Lisa Mercedez, and London Hill.
69.
On October 21,2022, rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again released a collaboration with Nicki Minaj titled "I Admit".
70.
In February 2023, Nicki Minaj first previewed "Red Ruby da Sleeze" through her Instagram, announcing that it would eventually release on March 3,2023.
71.
Nicki Minaj would tease the song as she shared a video of her rapping it at the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.
72.
On March 3,2023, Nicki Minaj announced the launch of her own record label imprint on a episode of her radio show, "Queen Radio".
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Nicki Minaj unveiled her starting roster: Nana Fofie, Tate Kobang, Rico Danna, and London Hill.
74.
On March 13,2023, Nicki Minaj revealed the name of her imprint will be called "Heavy On it Records" on "Queen Radio".
75.
Nicki Minaj is known for her animated rapping style and "unique" flow.
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Nicki Minaj's rapping is distinctive for its speed and the use of alter egos and accents, primarily British cockney.
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Nicki Minaj goes from campy to bellicose, excited to eccentric, oftentimes all on one song.
78.
Zoe Johnson of XXL, stated that in recent years Nicki Minaj's "beat selection has moved to refined production full of grit and hip-hop flare in recent years".
79.
Nicki Minaj recalled that "fantasy was my reality" and her first identity was Cookie, who became Harajuku Barbie and Nicki Minaj.
80.
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.
81.
Nicki Minaj introduced another alter ego, Rosa, to commemorate her December 2010 appearance on Lopez Tonight.
82.
One of Nicki Minaj's most well-known alter-egos is "a demon inside her" named Roman Zolanski, Nicki Minaj's "twin brother", whose character she assumes when she is angry.
83.
Nicki Minaj's words were our words in our conversations all the time.
84.
Nicki Minaj said, further: "I never really told Foxy how much she has influenced me and how much she changed my life" adding that Foxy Brown was "the most influential female rapper" for her.
85.
Nicki Minaj has cited Beyonce, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Enya, Eminem, Kanye West, Trina, Drake, Lil' Kim, Lisa Left Eye Lopes, Janet Jackson, Grace Jones, Remy Ma and Missy Elliott as influences.
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Nicki Minaj is the most followed rapper on Instagram with over 200 million followers, the first to surpass that number, as well as one of the most followed female musicians on the social media platform.
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Nicki Minaj joined American Idol as a judge in 2013.
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Nicki Minaj was a vocal proponent of streams counting towards an artist's RIAA certifications.
89.
Nicki Minaj has been called as a "fashion icon" by Allure, Time, XXL and has been called a "camp style icon" by Refinery29.
90.
Nicki Minaj has cited Alexander McQueen, Gianni Versace, and Christian Louboutin as her favorite designers.
91.
In 2014, Nicki Minaj underwent a reinvention in her image sporting a "natural" and "softer" look, wearing fewer wigs and less colourful costumes.
92.
Nicki Minaj's fanbase, known as the "Barbz", have been reported as often being militant towards Nicki Minaj's critics, including incidents reportedly involving cyberbullying and death threats.
93.
In 2010, Nicki Minaj performed a cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", alongside singer Katy Perry, for service members during the 2010 VH1 Divas Salute the Troops concert.
94.
In 2012, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Nicki Minaj donated $15,000 to the Food Bank For New York City and held a turkey drive at her alma mater, PS 45.
95.
In May 2017, Nicki Minaj offered via Twitter to pay college tuition fees and student loans for 30 of her fans.
96.
Nicki Minaj appeared to grant their requests, ranging from $500 to school supplies to $6,000 for tuition, promising to respond to more requests in a month or two.
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Nicki Minaj announced that she would launch an official charity for student loans and tuition payments in the near future.
98.
On September 4,2018, Nicki Minaj appeared as a guest and performed several songs on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
99.
In 2019, Nicki Minaj pulled out of headlining a concert in Saudi Arabia following online backlash from activists, after women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was detained and arrested for speaking out against the Saudi regime.
100.
In 2020, Nicki Minaj donated $25,000 to the St Jude's Home for Girls school after visiting the school in her native country of Trinidad.
101.
For NPR Music, Sowmya Krishnamurthy noted that Nicki Minaj has portrayed "the quirky, life-size Barbie, glamorous vixen and girl-next-door", arguing that she "changed the landscape for artists in hip-hop for the past decade" with said alter egos.
102.
In 2017, Patrik Sandberg of Dazed argued that Nicki Minaj has "surpassed every other female hip hop artist to become the most successful in history" in 2017.
103.
In XXL, Madeline Roth commented that Nicki Minaj "has helped birth a new generation of rappers that mimic her style".
104.
Nicki Minaj has influenced several artists, including Tinashe, Cher Lloyd, Cupcakke, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Ms Banks, Asian Doll, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, Shenseea, BIA, Lakeyah, Luisa Sonza, Coi Leray, Maliibu Miitch, City Girls, Baby Tate, Ice Spice, Rico Nasty, Flo Milli, Ivorian Doll, Angel Haze, Rubi Rose, and Saweetie.
105.
Nicki 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, and four Teen Choice Awards.
106.
Nicki Minaj has received a total of 10 Grammy Award nominations.
107.
Nicki Minaj received her first Grammy nomination in 2010 for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
108.
In 2012, Nicki Minaj received three nominations, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album.
109.
Nicki Minaj has won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video four times and has won the Best Female Video Award once.
110.
Nicki 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.
111.
In 2010, Nicki 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.
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In 2011, Nicki 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.
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Nicki Minaj is the only rapper to win the BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist seven consecutive times.
114.
In 2013, Nicki 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.
115.
Nicki Minaj has twenty-one top 10 singles on the chart, the most for any female rapper, with six of those being solo songs.
116.
In 2017, Nicki 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.
117.
Nicki Minaj 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.
118.
Nicki Minaj is the female artist with the second-most Hot 100 entries, behind Swift.
119.
In 2020, Nicki Minaj become the second female rapper to chart at number one on the Hot 100 more than once with her 6ix9ine collaboration "Trollz".
120.
Nicki Minaj became the second female to debut atop the chart since Lauryn Hill in 1998.
121.
In total, Nicki Minaj has eight music videos with more than one billion views across all credits on YouTube, becoming the first female rapper to do so.
122.
Nicki Minaj is only one of two female artists to have eight music videos reaching more than one billion views, tying with Rihanna.
123.
Nicki Minaj was featured on one of the physical covers of the issue.
124.
Nicki Minaj has a line of fragrances first launched in September 2012.
125.
Nicki Minaj partnered with 'Give Back Brands' to introduce her first fragrance, "Pink Friday", which was nominated for three 2013 FiFi Awards for Fragrance of the Year, Best Packaging, and Media Campaign of the Year.
126.
Nicki Minaj has been affiliated with several manufacturing companies and has endorsed a number of products during her career.
127.
Nicki Minaj has stated that she has learned the ins and outs of business so she could do it herself.
128.
In 2011, Mattel crafted a Barbie doll with the avatar of Nicki Minaj, inspired by the rapper's likeness for charity, which she described as a "major moment" in her career.
129.
In February 2012, Nicki Minaj launched her own range of lip products for MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam.
130.
Nicki Minaj fronted the Viva Glam spring campaign by herself, which introduced her limited-edition lip product collection, "Nicki 2", which was launched in early 2013.
131.
Nicki Minaj partnered with Beats Electronics to introduce her "Pink Pill" speakers in April 2013, appearing with DeRay Davis in a commercial for the speakers that same month.
132.
Nicki Minaj introduced her lifestyle product line, "The Nicki Minaj Collection" for Kmart, composed of clothing, accessories and houseware.
133.
Nicki Minaj serves as a co-owner, creative director, and ambassador of the brand.
134.
Nicki Minaj served as the face of Roberto Cavalli's spring and summer campaign of that year.
135.
In March 2015, it was announced that Nicki Minaj was a co-owner of the music streaming service Tidal.
136.
In November 2015, Nicki Minaj released a holiday capsule clothing collection for Kmart and its affiliated e-commerce platform, ShopYourWay.
137.
Nicki Minaj released a limited-edition couture collection for the retailer, which was available at her website.
138.
August 2018, Nicki Minaj starred in the trailer for EA Sports' Madden NFL 19 video game alongside Lil Dicky, Quavo and other celebrities.
139.
In March 2022, Nicki Minaj fronted the campaign for the "Heaven" Spring 2022 collection by Marc Jacobs.
140.
In September 2021, Nicki Minaj announced she would not be attending the 2021 Met Gala due to the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
141.
Nicki Minaj stated that she has avoided public appearances and traveling after contracting the virus herself and having to quarantine from her son as a result.
142.
Nicki Minaj shared several tweets about her unvaccinated status and claimed she wanted to do more research and be comfortable with her decision first.
143.
Nicki Minaj alleged in a Tweet that her cousin's friend in Trinidad suffered swollen testicles and became impotent as a result of the vaccine.
144.
Shortly after, Nicki Minaj recommended other people get the vaccine and set up a Twitter poll on COVID-19 vaccine brands.
145.
Nicki Minaj tweeted that she was sure she would get vaccinated herself because of touring.
146.
Nicki Minaj alleged that reporters harassed her family for a story, with her sharing some text messages she alleged were harassment on social media.
147.
In May 2022, Olivia Truffaut-Wong of The Cut alleged that Nicki Minaj had gotten vaccinated, as the 2022 Met Gala requires proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 PCR test to attend.