Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj (/mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born rapper, singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Born in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in the Queens borough 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 was known for her colorful costumes and wigs, her distinct flow, and the use of alter egos and accents, primarily British cockney. After signing with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment in 2009, Minaj released her first studio album, Pink Friday (2010), which peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album yielded Minaj's first single to reach the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Super Bass", which peaked at number three. Her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), saw Minaj move towards a dance-pop sound with a focus on her singing. The album peaked at number one on Billboard 200, with its lead single, "Starships", peaking at number five on the Hot 100 chart, and 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 the dance-pop stylings of her previous records and a return to her hip hop roots, with the former spawning the single "Anaconda", which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and the latter featuring "Chun Li", which reached number 10 on the Hot 100. 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 second female rapper to debut atop the chart after Lauryn Hill in 1998.

Cited as one of the most influential and best selling rap artists of all time, and dubbed as the "Queen of Rap" by several media outlets, Minaj has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including six American Music Awards, twelve BET Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, one ASCAP Latin Music Award, and two Billboard Women in Music Awards. She has also been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards. Minaj was the highest-ranked female rapper on Billboard's list of the top artists of the 2010s. 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.