Nicki Minaj or Onika Tanya Maraj is a rapper, singer, and songwriter. She holds the position of an international superstar. The animated flow, lyricism, and accents that Minaj uses in her rapping have gained her worldwide recognition.
Currently, she is the wealthiest female rapper in the world. Not everyone knows about her inspiring story. Her life wasn’t always as glamorous as it is now. From beginning her career as a rapper with the Brooklyn group Full Force to being the Queen of Rap today, Nicki Minaj has come a long way.
Early Lifeঃ—
On December 8, 1982, Onika Tanya Maraj, or Nicki Minaj, was born in the Saint James district of Port of Spain. She is the daughter of Robert Maraj, a financial executive and part-time gospel singer, and Carol Maraj, who was also a gospel singer.
Minaj grew up with three siblings: an older brother, Jelani; a younger brother, Micaiah; and a younger sister, Ming. In a joint family, Nicki and Jelani lived with their grandmother and eleven cousins. Eventually, Minaj’s mother got a new house when she was five. Three of them—Minaj, Carol, and Jelani—moved there.
Nicki’s application to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music, Art, and Performing Arts was accepted. As a result, she did her graduation in visual and performing arts.
Strugglesঃ—
Life is perfect for no one. The more beautiful it looks, the harder the story and work behind it are. Not everyone knows about the struggles and dark phase Nicki Minaj has been through.
Nicki Minaj had a difficult childhood. She grew up in a dysfunctional family and a depressing neighborhood. Her father was a toxic man. Because of this, her mother kept suffering, physically and emotionally, all throughout her life.
For a living, Nicki’s father used to sell items from their home. He had problems with drugs and alcohol. One day, he even set the house on fire while her mom was inside. Looking into all this, Nicki Minaj was always worried for her mother.
She reveals that she would go into her room, kneel down at the foot of the bed, and pray that God would make her rich. So that she could take care of her mother. It had been set in her mind that being rich would cure everything. And that was what always drove her.
Before she got her big break, she had to face many obstacles and rejections: —
Initially, everyone was just slamming doors in her face. Nothing was really working out. She terms it a very dark period of her life.
A very dark period in her life began.
Nicki described, “At a point, I was like, like, what would happen if I just didn’t wake up”. This situation made her think of the worst. But fortunately, Nicki’s persistence and belief opened some doors for her.
Success and Present: —
Nicki Minaj began her career as a rapper. She rapped for various groups, recorded songs, and created mixtapes over the years. Minaj first gained recognition with her three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009. She rose to fame with Pink Friday in 2010, her debut album. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.
Apart from music, Nicki worked as an actress. She had voice roles in Ice Age: Continental Drift and The Angry Birds Movie 2. Also, she appeared in supporting roles in the comedy films The Other Woman and Barbershop: The Next Cut.
Getting fame and love from all over the world, she is titled “Queen of Rap” and “Queen of Hip Hop.” Today, Nicki Minaj is one of the best-selling artists of all time with 100 million records. The year 2016 included her on the list of the 100 most influential people in the world.