Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj, is a rapper, actress, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur with Trinidadian-American roots.

Nicki was discovered by Lil Wayne through her mixtapes *Sucka Free* and *Beam Me Up Scotty*, and gained mainstream recognition as an artist under Wayne’s label Young Money Entertainment. Her breakthrough hits, "Your Love," "Moment 4 Life" (with Drake), and the major hit "Super Bass," are part of her 2010 debut album *Pink Friday*.

She followed up with her second studio album, *Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded*, which included "Starships," a track that further established Nicki’s pop/rap style. "Starships" secured a *Billboard* milestone by charting for 21 weeks in the top ten of the *Billboard Hot 100*, an achievement unmatched by any artist without the aid of streaming services.

Between her second and third album releases, Nicki served as a judge on *American Idol* and released a reissue of her second album in November 2012, including ten new hip-hop tracks that she promoted throughout the following year.

On December 12, 2014, Nicki unveiled her third studio album *The Pinkprint*. In this project, she moved away from her “Pop facade,” exploring a wider variety of flows and thickened delivery, alongside more sophisticated subjects and lyricism. The album addresses themes such as vulnerability, relationship troubles, betrayal, close-call experiences, motherhood, suicide, addiction, murder, responsibility, female empowerment, sexual accusations, and entitlement. It remains her longest-charting studio album and includes the hit single “Anaconda.”

Nearly four years later, on August 10, 2018, Nicki released her fourth studio album, *Queen*. This album marked Nicki’s most rap-focused project up to that point while still incorporating R&B and Pop influences, similar to her previous work. On *Queen*, Nicki reaffirms her dominant status in the Hip-hop community, targets her critics, showcases her wealth and power, playfully jabs at her peers, and opens up about her love life, all within sixty-six minutes.

Nicki’s collaborations are notably significant, particularly “Bang Bang” with Jessie J and Ariana Grande, her numerous works with Young Money’s “Big Three” (Nicki, Lil Wayne, and Drake), and “Monster,” a collaboration with Kanye West, Jay-Z, and others on Kanye West’s fifth album. Nicki’s verse on the track is celebrated by critics and helped ignite her fan base.

On May 1, 2020, Doja Cat enlisted Nicki for the “Say So (Remix),” which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking the first collaboration between two female rappers to top the chart. She followed this collaboration on June 12, 2020, with a second project with 6ix9ine, “TROLLZ”, debuting at #1 and making her the first female rapper to debut in the top spot in the 21st century. Beginning her fifth album era, Nicki released “Super Freaky Girl” on August 12, 2022, which also debuted at #1, making her the first female rapper to debut at the top spot with a solo song since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo-Wop (That Thing)” in 1998.

As of April 2022, Nicki has appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 125 times, ranking second-most for a female artist and seventh overall. She has ten Grammy nominations and fourteen MTV Video Music Award nominations, having won five of the latter. She possesses 113 million RIAA certified units, primarily singles, with 8.5 million albums sold.

On December 8, 2023, coinciding with her 41st birthday, Nicki released the 22-track *Pink Friday 2* on all streaming platforms, featuring artists like Drake, Lil Wayne, and J Cole. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums US chart, selling 228k in its first week with 100k in filtered sales. Tracks such as FTCU and Everybody quickly became popular as the album dropped. In January 2024, Nicki set the record for the longest-running #1 album by a female rapper on US Apple Music, lasting 33 days as of January 9, 2024. The album also set the record for most Billboard Hot 100 entries (17) by a female rapper. Nicki was additionally the first artist to achieve a #1 album on US Apple Music in 2024.