Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (née Maraj; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj (/mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born[a] rapper, singer, and songwriter based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, sharp lyrics, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. Minaj first gained recognition after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009. Her debut album, Pink Friday (2010), topped the American Billboard 200 chart with the album's fifth single, "Super Bass", reaching number three on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was later certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.Born
Onika Tanya Maraj
December 8, 1982 (age 39)
Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Education
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
Occupation
Rapper singer songwriter actress radio personality
Years active
2004–present
Works
discography songs recorded videography performances
Spouse
Kenneth Petty (m. 2019)
Partner
Safaree Samuels (2000–2014)
Children
1
Awards
Full list
Musical career
Origin
New York City, United States
Genres
Hip hop[1][2] pop[3]
Instrument(s)
Vocals
Labels
Young Money Cash Money Republic
Website
nickiminajofficial.com
Minaj's follow-up album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), explored dance-pop and reached number one in several countries worldwide. The album's single "Starships" peaked inside the top five in fifteen countries. Her third album, The Pinkprint (2014) explored more personal topics and marked a return to her hip hop roots. The former's second single, "Anaconda", reached number two in the United States and became the first solo female rap music video to reach one billion views on YouTube. Minaj collaboration on “Bang Bang” also reached number three and went multi-platinum worldwide. Minaj released her fourth album, Queen (2018) and it spawned the top 10 hit single “Chun-Li”. In 2019, her collaboration with Karol G, "Tusa", became the longest running number one single on the Argentina Hot 100 chart. In 2020, Minaj achieved her first two American number one singles with her remix on Doja Cat's "Say So" and her collaboration with 6ix9ine, "Trollz". With the re-release of her Beam Me Up Scotty (2009) mixtape in 2021, Minaj has the highest debut for a female rap mixtape on the American Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number two. The lead single of her forthcoming fifth studio album, "Super Freaky Girl", became the first solo song by a female rapper to debut at number one in the United States in the 21st century.
Often cited as the "Queen of Rap" and the "Queen of Hip Hop" by several media outlets, Minaj is also one of the best-selling music artists, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. Several media outlets have described her as one of the most influential rappers of all time, and Billboard ranked her as the top female rapper of the 2010s, and seventh among the top female artists. She became the first female artist to have one hundred Billboard Hot 100 entries and has twenty-one top ten singles in the United States. Her various accolades include eight American Music Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2022), six MTV Europe Music Awards, twelve BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, a Brit Award, three Guinness World Records and 10 Grammy nominations. In 2016, Time included her on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Outside of music, her film career has included voice roles in the animated films Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) as well as supporting roles in the films The Other Woman (2014) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016).
