The musician Nicki Minaj was born in 1982 in Trinidad and her real name is Onika Tanya Maraj.
At the age of five, she moved to Queens, New York and there she grew up. Between 2007 and 2009, Minaj released a number of mix tapes, before she was signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009.
Her first album, Pink Friday, came out in 2010 and was a big hit. It reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and went platinum a month after it was released. Her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, came out in April 2012.
Minaj is the first female artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. In addition, Minaj was the first female since 2002 to top the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart unaccompanied. If that wasn’t enough, Minaj was also the first woman to be named on MTV’s Annual Hottest MC List.
As well as her music Nicki Minaj is also well known for her image, often wearing outlandish and cartoonish outfits.
Minaj has said that her music is influenced by artists such as Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Lauryn Hill, Lil’ Kim, Janet Jackson and Madonna.