Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj (/mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer-songwriter, and actress. Dubbed as the "Queen of Rap" by several media outlets, Minaj is one of the most influential and best selling female artists of all time, with 137 million records sold worldwide. She has garnered praise for her animated rapping, her versatility as an artist and her songwriting which utilizes metaphors, double entendres, and wordplay.
Born in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Queens of New York City, she gained public recognition after releasing the mixtapes Playtime Is Over (2007), Sucka Free (2008), and Beam Me Up Scotty (2009). Early in her career, Minaj became known for her colorful costumes and wigs, her distinct flow, and the use of alter egos and accents, primarily British cockney. In 2010, Minaj released her debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010). It was certified triple-platinum by RIAA, peaked at number-one on the Billboard 200 and yielded Minaj's first top-five single "Super Bass", peaking at number three. It was the highest-charting female rap song since 2002. Her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), saw Minaj move towards a dance-pop and pop rap sound. The album debuted and peaked at number-one on the Billboard 200, with its lead single, "Starships", peaking at number five on the Hot 100, reaching inside the top five of the charts in several countries. Minaj's third and fourth studio albums, The Pinkprint (2014) and Queen (2018), marked a departure from her previous style and a return to her hip hop roots. The Pinkprint was generally acclaimed, with the second single "Anaconda" reaching number two on the Hot 100. With Anaconda, Minaj became the first female rapper to have a solo female rap music video to reach one billion views on YouTube. Queen featured the lead single "Chun-Li", which reached top ten on the Hot 100. Her 2021 re-release of her 2009 mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty debuted at number two on Billboard 200, becoming the highest debuting female rap mixtape in Billboard 200 history.
In 2019, Minaj released a record-breaking collaboration with Karol G, "Tusa", which became the longest-running number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100, having spent six months at number-one on the chart. The song also has become the most streamed all-female collaboration on Spotify. Her feature on the remix of Doja Cat's "Say So" and her collaboration with 6ix9ine, "Trollz", both released in 2020, marked her first and second number-one singles on the Hot 100, respectively, with the latter making her the first female rapper to debut atop the chart since 1998. Minaj is the only one of two female artists to have 100 entries or more on the Hot 100, with the other being singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Minaj has nineteen top 10 singles on the chart, the most for any female rapper so far, with four of those being solo songs.
Minaj has received numerous accolades and was named Billboard's top female rapper of the decade as well as being Billboard's seventh most successful female artist of the decade out of all the genres. Minaj is also the highest paid female rapper of all time, charging up to $500,000 for a feature. In 2016, Minaj was included on the annual Time list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Outside of music, Minaj's 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 comedy films The Other Woman (2014) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016). She also appeared as a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol in 2013. She is the most-followed rapper on Instagram. In 2021, a six-part documentary miniseries following the making of Queen will be released on HBO Max.
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