Nicki Minaj

She is one of the most famed female rappers in the industry with the record of “highest-grossing tour by a female rapper” for her latest “Pink Friday 2 World Tour”. The 12-time Grammy-nominated “Harujuku Barbie” has become a living inspiration for younger female artists from her days of the “Beam Me Up Scotty (2009)” mixtape success.

Nickin has proved her metal in the entertainment industry in the past one and a half decades gaining tremendous popularity and wealth as a rapper, singer, model, and actress. All of her five studio albums were attention-grabbers, not to forget her Billboard hits like “I Get Crazy”, Bang Bang, Super Freaky Girl, Anaconda, and more.  

Currently, Nicki Minaj boasts a fortune of $150 million, and it will increase more after the grand success of the 2024 Pink Friday 2 World Tour.  

With a music career reigning for a decade and a half, Nicki Minaj showed off and showed out her talent, hard work, and hunger for greatness. Let’s get to know about the untold stories hidden behind her stardom. 

• Nicki was cast in the Off-Broadway play “In Case You Forget” back in 2001.
• She worked as a waitress at a Red Lobster in the Bronx but was fired for discourtesy to customers.
• The other 15 jobs she was fired from include being a customer service representative and working in office management on Wall Street. 
• Got signed with the Brooklyn group Full Force and rapped in “The Hoodstars” back in 2004. 
• She left Full Force and started uploading songs on her Myspace profile.
• “Brooklyn label Dirty Money Entertainment” CEO Fendi signed Nicki to his label under a 180-day contract and adopted the stage name Nicki Maraj but later changed it to Nicki Minaj. 
• In 2007 and 2008, She released her first and second mixtapes “Playtime Is Over” and “Sucka Free”. 

Born and brought up in a poor family, Nicki has gone through hurdles in her childhood including a rough upbringing and poverty which added more fuel to her drive to achieve fame and fortune. It’s best said in her own words stating, “You figure out the value of money when you come from a different country, and then you don’t have what the other kids have. Children know a lot more than you think regarding poverty.” - Nicki Minaj’s cover story for Vogue's December 2023 issue. 

• Born on December 8, 1982, in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to father Robert Maraj a financial executive and part-time gospel singer, and mother Carol Maraj also a gospel singer.
• Her father was addicted to alcohol and cocaine leading to domestic abuse on his wife. His violent temper also led him to burn down their house in December 1987. 
• Nicki and his brother Jelani grew up at the age of three, with her grandmother in Saint James, in a household with 11 cousins, after her parents immigrated to the U.S. 
• Carol brought both Minaj and Jelani to live with her and their father after she bought a house in 1987. 
• Nicki indulged herself in her own fantasy world to keep her mental state away from her violent domestic environment and wrote her first song at the age of 12. 
• She enrolled and graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City back in 2002. 
• Her father Robert passed away in a hit-and-run on February 13, 2021, on Long Island, New York. The accused driver Charles Polevich was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty.