Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj emerged from a run of mixtapes released between 2007 and 2009 to become one of rap’s defining commercial figures of the 2010s and beyond. Born Onika Tanya Maraj on December 8, 1982, she is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter raised in New York City. Her recordings are known for shifting flows, densely worked punchlines, melodic pop instincts, and recurring alter egos, including Roman Zolanski. Billboard and Vibe ranked her the greatest female rapper of all time in 2023.

Her 2010 debut album, Pink Friday, opened with the largest sales week for a female rap album in the 21st century and topped the Billboard 200. It introduced “Super Bass,” one of her signature singles. Minaj followed it with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded in 2012, another US number-one album that leaned into dance-pop on “Starships,” a top-five single. She moved back toward hip-hop on 2014’s The Pinkprint and 2018’s Queen, albums that produced “Anaconda” and “Chun-Li,” respectively.

In 2020, Minaj reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time through two duets: Doja Cat’s “Say So” and 6ix9ine’s “Trollz.” “Say So” was the first collaboration by two female rappers to lead the chart. Her fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, arrived in 2023 and gave her a third US number-one album, the most by a female rapper. The album’s lead single, “Super Freaky Girl,” became her first solo number one in the US. The ensuing tour became the highest-grossing tour by a female rapper and ranks among the five highest-grossing rap tours.

Minaj has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and is described as the best-selling female rapper. In the US, she has more than 54 million certified singles and three diamond-certified singles; in 2024, the RIAA recognized her as the first female rapper with two diamond-certified solo songs. Her awards include a Brit Award, five Billboard Music Awards, nine American Music Awards, eight MTV Video Music Awards, eleven BET Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, and three Guinness World Records. Time included her among its 100 most influential people in 2016, while Billboard Women in Music honored her with its Game Changer Award in 2019.

Beyond recording, Minaj founded the Heavy On It imprint in 2023 and hosted Queen Radio from 2018 to 2023. Her work outside music includes fragrance, press-on nail, and sneaker lines, along with film and television roles. She voiced characters in Ice Age: Continental Drift and The Angry Birds Movie 2, acted in The Other Woman and Barbershop: The Next Cut, and served as a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol in 2013.