Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj fuses ferocity with wit through a rap technique defined by incisive wordplay, unfiltered directness, and a vocal presence that pivots instantly from sweet to fierce, propelling her from mixtape standout to a lasting international pop figure. Early on she pursued acting and once lost a Red Lobster position after clashing with diners, yet she advanced swiftly from MySpace recordings to widely embraced mixtapes and then mainstream recognition. Her 2010 debut album Pink Friday broadened her reach and achieved chart-topping results. Later projects such as The Pinkprint in 2014 and Queen in 2018 matched that commercial stride, though her singles delivered even wider resonance. Over slightly more than ten years she placed over two dozen tracks in the Top 40 under her own name, among them Super Bass, Starships, and Anaconda. Those selections and additional highlights appeared on the 2022 anthology Queen Radio, Vol. 1, which introduced the chart-topping Super Freaky Girl. Her featured appearances proved still more plentiful, encompassing Kanye West’s Monster, David Guetta’s Turn Me On, and Ariana Grande’s Side to Side. In 2023 she finally issued the long-awaited follow-up to her debut, her fifth studio set Pink Friday 2.

Born Onika Tanya Maraj in 1982 in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, to gospel-singer parents, she remained with her grandmother there until age five before reuniting with her mother in Queens, New York. High school introduced her to the performing arts and initially steered her toward acting. She later shifted focus to music, first as a member of the Hood$tars in the early 2000s and then as a solo artist. Big Fendi, CEO of Dirty Money Entertainment, encountered her MySpace material in 2007, signed her, and proposed the stage name Nicki Minaj to project a tougher image. The label issued her debut mixtape Playtime Is Over that year and the 2008 follow-up Sucka Free, both already drawing attention through appearances by Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Jadakiss, and Lil’ Kim.

The 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty gained strong favor with expanding listeners and produced her earliest Billboard-charting material. In August 2009 she joined Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment as its first female signee. From there she contributed verses to tracks by Gucci Mane, Kanye West, and Pusha T, as well as to the 2009 Young Money group album We Are Young Money on the cuts Bedrock and Roger That. Her official first album Pink Friday arrived in November 2010 after the lead singles Your Love and Check It Out. Although the project leaned further toward pop than her earlier raw rap sound, the blend succeeded at once, entering the Billboard 200 at number two and earning platinum status with roughly 375,000 copies sold in its opening week. She collected several 2011 Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance. Between releases she maintained visibility through lavish award-show performances worldwide, a Saturday Night Live musical-guest slot, and a Super Bowl XLVI halftime appearance alongside Madonna and M.I.A.

Early in 2012 the Euro-dance single Starships previewed her second album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, centered on her alter ego Roman Zolanski. Guests included Nas, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, and Beenie Man, while RedOne and Ke’Noe handled production. The set reached number one on the U.S. charts, propelled by Starships reaching the Top Ten and Va Va Voom also entering the Top 40. By year’s end she had joined the judging panel for season 12 of American Idol, though she departed after that season. Success continued unabated; 2013 brought two milestones—the most-charted female rapper in Billboard singles history and a fourth consecutive BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist.

December 2014 saw the release of her third album The Pinkprint. Lead single Lookin Ass had already appeared on the March Young Money compilation Rise of an Empire, while follow-up Anaconda earned a 2015 Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song. Themes of regret and fractured relationships ran through the project, which critics praised and which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. In 2016 she appeared on DJ Khaled’s Do You Mind and Ariana Grande’s Side to Side while also dropping Black Barbies. The next year she issued three standalone singles—Regret in Your Tears, Changed It with Lil Wayne, and No Frauds with Lil Wayne and Drake—the last of which went gold and reached the Hot 100’s Top 20 and the R&B/rap Top Ten. Additional 2017 features included MotorSport with Migos and Cardi B plus Swalla with Jason Derulo and Ty Dolla $ign.

Spring 2018 brought Chun-Li and Barbie Tingz ahead of her fourth album Queen, released that August. Third single Bed featured Ariana Grande, and the album also included Labrinth, Eminem, Lil Wayne, the Weeknd, Future, Foxy Brown, and Swae Lee. Queen likewise opened at number two on the Billboard 200. Further 2019 releases comprised the non-album Megatron, Tusa with Karol G, Trollz with 6ix9ine, and Fendi with PnB Rock and Murda Beatz. February 2020 added the standalone Yikes. Beam Me Up Scotty received a 2021 reissue with revised artwork and a reordered track list that omitted several original cuts while adding new ones; the updated version reached number two on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest-charting mixtape by a female rapper to date.

Into the early 2020s she maintained a steady stream of collaborations with Doja Cat, Jesy Nelson, BIA, and Elton John. In 2022 she notched further lead hits via the Lil Baby pairings Do We Have a Problem? and Bussin, then scored a pop number one with Super Freaky Girl; all three appeared on the August anthology Queen Radio, Vol. 1. She opened 2023 with the flamenco- and trap-inflected Red Ruby da Sleeze, followed by a feature on YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s WTF, joint singles with Ice Spice and Kim Petras, appearances on tracks by Lil Uzi Vert and Sexyy Red, and Barbie World with Ice Spice for the Barbie soundtrack Barbie The Album. September 2023 introduced the R&B-leaning Last Time I Saw You as the second single for her fifth studio album Pink Friday 2. Long in development since 2019, the sequel arrived in December 2023 on her 41st birthday. It featured J. Cole, Lil Wayne, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, and others while continuing to blend pop, hip-hop, trap, and R&B. The album topped both the Billboard 200 and R&B charts, generating further singles into 2024 such as Everybody, Press Play, and Big Difference. January 2024 also brought the non-album track Big Foot.