Nicki Minaj Digital Biography

GOVERNMENT NAME: ONIKA MARAJ

SUN SIGN: SAGITTARIUS

BIRTHDAY: DECEMBER 8

HOMETOWN: QUEENS, NYC

Onika Tanya Maraj (Nicki Minaj) was born on December 8, 1982, and grew up in Queens, New York. She is of African, Trinidadian and Indo-Asian descent. She graduated from LaGuardia High School in Manhattan where she studied singing and acting.

Nicki honed her innate ability and star potential at the renowned school of performing arts which was denoted in the movie and television series FAME. It was not long before she began to attract the attention of local producers and hip hop artist in the rap genre. Reluctant at first to cast herself as a rapper, her apprehension was predicated on the thought that the industry would attempt to limit her to one thing; when she knew that she was so much more. Decidedly, Nicki accepted the challenge and embarked on the journey of a female emcee in a hip hop world dominated by males. 

Influenced by the unpredictable rhymes of Missy Elliott along with the sexually charged attitudes of Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown, Queens native Nicki Minaj was discovered on MySpace by Dirty Money CEO Fendi, who signed her to his Dirty Money label. After appearing on The Carter Edition of Young Money's The Come Up DVD series, Minaj was contacted by Lil Wayne. The two collaborated on a number of mixtape tracks. In April 2007, she released her first mixtape, Playtime Is Over, where she posed as a Barbie doll on the cover. Lil Wayne appeared on the track "Can't Stop, Won't Stop". 

It was not long before her lyrical skills were sought after by the likes of Lil' Wayne. Nicki was determined not to befall the ill-fate of so many other talented female rappers. Instead she opted to qualify her lyrical skills through the ranks of the underground mix tape circuit. Success was inevitably achieved with her critically acclaimed performance credit on the DVD entitled “The Come Up” and mixtapes like Playtime is Over and the infamous Sucka Free. Now in demand Nicki's role expands as a featured artist and female persona of Lil Wayne's record label Young Money Entertainment. In addition, she has a worked with celebrated recording artists Bobby Valentino and Jadakiss. Nicki has also collaborated with Atlantic recording artist Gucci Mane. Both Gucci and Nicki are managed by Debra Antney of Mizay Entertainment. 

The evolution of Nicki Minaj continues as she exploits her talents as a singer and explores her passion as a writer. Of equal importance, she has also engaged in writing material for herself and other artists. Nicki was considered for several acting roles which included playing the lead character of Erica Payne in the film adaptation of Essence's best bestselling novel “Charge it to the Game” by author Michele A. Fletcher. 

In 2008, Minaj released her mixtape, Sucka Free. She appeared in the July issue of XXL magazine, giving a brief overview of her life up to that point in time. Later that year, Minaj won Female Artist of the Year at the Underground Music Awards. 

Nicki Minaj released Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, in 2009. It received generally positive coverage on the of both BET and MTV.

In August 2009, Minaj signed to Young Money Entertainment with distribution from Universal Motown wherein she released her debut studio album in 2010. Minaj also featured on Jeffree Star's 2009 album Beauty Killer on the track "Lollipop Luxury". 

The big breakthrough for Minaj came when Wayne added his rhymes to her "High as a Kite" single, a mixtape favorite in 2008. The year 2009 would see more guest appearances and mixtapes, including the Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape, featuring the street single "I Get Crazy." In 2010, the singles "Your Love" and "Check It Out" preceded the release of her official debut album, Pink Friday, which debuted that November at number two on the Billboard 200 and went platinum. She earned a handful of 2011 Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance. An all-out media blitz followed between albums with extravagant performances at award shows across the globe, an appearance as musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and joining Madonna -- alongside M.I.A. -- for her Super Bowl XLVI halftime show. In early 2012, the Eurodance-influenced single "Starships" signaled the coming of her official sophomore effort, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, an album built around her devil-may-care alter ego "Roman Zolanski." Guest artists included Nas, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, and Beenie Man, while production came from the likes of RedOne, Dr. Luke, and Ke'Noe. The album was re-released in 2012 in a "Re-Up" version with eight new tracks added to the front of the track list.

In September 2012, Minaj was confirmed to join the judging panel of the twelfth season of American Idol, alongsidge fellow new hires Mariah Carey and Keith Urban and returning judge Randy Jackson, with a salary of $12 million. Minaj and Carey have received much media attention for their on-set tension, most notably with a leaked video of the two in the midst of a heated argument during Charlotte, North Carolina auditions. The following day, Carey alleged that Minaj had threatened to "shoot her" during the aforementioned incident, though Minaj and producer Nigel Lythgoe denied such claims. Minaj left the series upon the conclusion of the season. On April 12, 2013, Minaj became the most-charted female rapper in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, with forty-four appearances.
Minaj has confirmed plans to launch her own record label, having signed Parker Ighile, Brinx, and Keisha as artists and Blackout Movement as a producer. The title "Pink Friday Records" was intended, but was scrapped because it was "Not fair 2 the dudes", with the new name to be released "very soon". Minaj has announced plans to appear in her first live-action theatrical film The Other Woman; filming began in spring 2013, with an anticipated release date set for April 25, 2014. Minaj is set to appear as actress Cameron Diaz's assistant. Minaj led nominations for rap musicians at the Billboard Music Awards 2013 having seven nominations. Minaj won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Awards 2013, making history as the first female rapper to win the award four times consecutively. Minaj was sued by Chicagoan artist Clive Tanaka for copyright infringement over the single "Starships".Minaj is currently working on her third studio album which is scheduled for a 2014 release, which she describes as "a continuation of The Re-Up with a lot more". Minaj speaking of her third album also stated her will focus back to her "hip-hop roots" During an interview with MTV, Minaj stated the work of her third album Minaj will be "next level" and that there will be "so much to talk about", she also exclaimed "I'm really excited and the people that have been working with me now, have been people that I haven't worked with before so it's like they're bringing a new sound to the album that I've never experimented with..." 

2014–2017: The Pinkprint and other ventures

Minaj's first live-action theatrical film The Other Woman was filmed in spring 2013 and premiered on April 25, 2014. She played Lydia, assistant to Carly (played by Cameron Diaz). In 2013, Minaj described her then-forthcoming third album, The Pinkprint, as "a continuation of The Re-Up with a lot more" and said it would focus on her "hip-hop roots". During an MTV interview, she said that her third album would be "next level" and that she has "much to talk about".

In February 2014, Malcolm X's daughter Ilyasah Shabazz voiced her displeasure by the artwork of her slain father used "inappropriately" for Minaj's single "Lookin' Ass Nigga". A statement from the Malcolm X estate read: "Ms. Minaj's artwork for her single does not depict the truth of Malcolm X's legacy, is completely disrespectful, and in no way is endorsed by [Shabazz or the Malcolm X] family." Minaj released an apology to the estate, however the rapper received backlash after remarks were made towards Shabazz in a mixtape recording ("Chi-Raq") that went: "Malcolm X daughter came at me/lookin' ass niggas ain't happy/rolled out with some Latin Kings and some eses in them plain khaki's."

"Pills n Potions" was released as the lead single from The Pinkprint in May 2014. "Anaconda" was released in August as the second single, peaking at number-two on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her highest-charting single in the U.S. to date. The music video for "Anaconda" attracted significant controversy from conservative media and went viral upon release online; it set a 24-hour Vevo record, accumulating 19.6 million views on its first day of release, breaking the record previously held by Miley Cyrus for "Wrecking Ball". In December of that year, Minaj received two Grammy Award nominations, for Best Rap Song ("Anaconda") and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance ("Bang Bang" with Jessie J and Ariana Grande).

The Pinkprint was officially released on December 15, 2014, and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with first week sales of 244,000 equivalent units (198,000 in pure album sales and 46,000 combined album-equivalent units and streams). Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from critics. Billboard magazine's Niki McGloster called it "her best album to date". Sheldon Pearce of The A.V. Club thought that The Pinkprint is "the closest Nicki Minaj has ever gotten to balancing her tendencies". Randall Roberts from the Los Angeles Times wrote that throughout the album, "she's intent on channeling her talent to explore and document her many moods. The combination is often, if not always, intoxicating". At the 58th Grammy Awards, Minaj received three more Grammy Award nominations, including a second Best Rap Album nomination for The Pinkprint.

In November 2014, Minaj released a lyric video containing Nazi-style imagery for her third single "Only". There was immediate backlash from the Anti Defamation League, who stated that it was "troubling that no one among Minaj's group of producers, publicists and managers raised a red flag about the use of such imagery before ushering the video into public release." They called the video "insensitive to Holocaust survivors and a trivialization of the history of that era." Minaj did not have creative control over the video.

On November 9, 2014, Minaj hosted the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards at The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland. She also won the Best Hip-Hop Award for a second time. In March 2015, Minaj embarked on her third world tour entitled The Pinkprint Tour and also became the first female artist to chart four songs simultaneously in the top 10 of Billboard's Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop airplay chart. At the 2015 BET Awards, Minaj won her sixth consecutive award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, becoming the female rapper with most wins in that category.

In August 2015, Madame Tussauds unveiled a wax figure of Minaj, which depicted her bent down on her hands and knees—the pose from the "Anaconda" music video. The attraction received criticism from some, including rapper Azealia Banks and The Independent, who called it "sexist" and "racist". Despite this, Minaj voiced her approval of the wax figure on social media. After numerous visitors began taking sexually suggestive photos with Minaj's statue, the museum instituted extra security. In September 2015, it was announced that Minaj would executive produce and appear in a scripted single-camera comedy series for ABC Family (now Freeform) based on her life growing up in Queens, New York. The show was titled Nicki and the pilot episode was filmed in Minaj's hometown in January 2016. In October 2016, Minaj stated the filming was postponed for undisclosed reasons.

In May 2015, it was announced that Minaj would feature in the third installment of the Barbershop film series, alongside Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Eve, and other original cast members. Titled Barbershop: The Next Cut, the film was released on April 15, 2016, and received critical acclaim, earning an average score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes; the site's critical consensus reads, "Heartfelt, thought-provoking, and above all funny, Barbershop: The Next Cut is the rare belated sequel that more than lives up to the standard set by its predecessors." Minaj's character in the film is a "sassy" hairdresser named Draya. For her performance, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress: Comedy.

In February 2017, Minaj was featured on Jason Derulo's single "Swalla", which reached the top ten in several countries, including a peak of number six in the UK singles chart. The following month, Minaj signed with the major modeling agency, Wilhelmina Models. On March 20, 2017, when her singles "No Frauds", "Changed It", and "Regret in Your Tears" were released simultaneously, Minaj broke the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 entries for a female artist, which was previously held by Aretha Franklin. The record was later surpassed by Taylor Swift in December 2020. In May, Minaj opened the 2017 Billboard Music Awards with a medley performance that was described by a Rolling Stone writer as "flamboyantly produced" and "dexterous".

Throughout the remainder of 2017, Minaj performed guest verses on several singles, including Migos' "MotorSport" and Yo Gotti's "Rake It Up", both of which peaked inside the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, at numbers six and eight, respectively. She also featured on Katy Perry's "Swish Swish", which peaked at 46 on the chart and was certified platinum in the US and Canada.

2018–2019: Queen

Minaj announced her fourth album, Queen, on the red carpet at the 2018 Met Gala; the album was scheduled to be released on June 15, 2018, but was delayed multiple times before being released on August 10, 2018. Its lead single, "Chun-Li", was released on April 12, 2018, and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. She performed the song on Saturday Night Live and the 2018 BET Awards. Another single, "Barbie Tingz", was released alongside "Chun-Li", but did not make the final album cut. It is, however, included on the Target version of the album. Queen's second single, "Bed", featuring Ariana Grande, was released on June 14, 2018, alongside the album pre-order, and peaked at number 42 on the Hot 100. On July 22, 2018, Tekashi 6ix9ine's single "Fefe", which featured Minaj, was released and debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. "Fefe" marked Minaj's highest bow on the chart as a featured artist at the time, besting the sixth place start of "Bang Bang" in 2014. It later peaked at number three on the Hot 100,[174] and was added to Queen in the middle of its first tracking week.

The day before the album's release, Minaj launched her own Beats 1 radio show, Queen Radio. Queen debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 185,000 album-equivalent units, of which 78,000 came from pure album sales.[179] It also debuted at number five in the UK and at number four in Australia, marking the highest debut of Minaj's career in the latter country. Upon debuting second on the Billboard 200, Minaj expressed frustration and criticized several people in a series of tweets, including Travis Scott, whose album Astroworld claimed the top spot for a second week in a row, blocking Queen from the top spot. Minaj claimed that Travis Scott sold shirts, merchandise, and ticket passes for an unannounced tour to boost his album sales. Queen's roll-out and the ensuing controversy was documented by several news outlets and commentators. Queen received generally positive reviews, though some critics took issue with the album's length and lyrical content. Mosi Reeves of Rolling Stone wrote that Queen "brings a new Nicki Minaj character: the regal, haughty monarch, a woman who insists on sword-sharpened rhymes as a prerogative for excellence", but described "a flabby, meandering mid-section". In a mixed review, Bryan Rolli of Forbes concluded that Queen is "a great 10-song album hiding inside a messy 19-song album", but said it "gives fans plenty to sink their teeth into". For The Washington Post, Chris Richards felt the "songs are way too long, and there are far too many of them". He also wrote that Minaj's "sense of melody feels stale and flavorless". Despite the mixed critical response and noticeable decline in radio play for its singles, the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over 1 million copies, 3 months after its release.

On August 20, Minaj won her fourth MTV Video Music Award for the "Chun-Li" music video at the 35th annual ceremony. Later that month, BTS' single, "Idol", featuring Minaj, was released; it debuted and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the group's second highest-charting song. On October 12, 2018, British girl group Little Mix released their single featuring Minaj, "Woman Like Me", which debuted at number 5 in the UK. A music video, which features Minaj wearing "Elizabethan ruff and not much else", was released the same month. A BBC writer opined that the video "tackle[s] gender stereotypes". Minaj was featured on Tyga's song "Dip", which reached number 63 on the Hot 100, making her the first female artist to have 100 entries on the chart. She later attended the year-end Billboard Women in Music event, receiving the Game Changer Award for the accomplishment.

Minaj also participated in a series of music festivals. On September 2, 2018, Minaj co-headlined the annual Made in America Festival and suffered a wardrobe malfunction. In November 2018, Minaj was invited to the DWP music festival in China but did not perform due to problems with the company hosting the event. In April 2019, Minaj made a guest appearance at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival during Ariana Grande's set and performed alongside her to their collaborations "Side to Side" and "Bang Bang". However, she experienced technical difficulties with her earpiece. Later that month, Minaj parted ways with her longtime management team after a mutual agreement.

In June 2019, Minaj released her first solo song of 2019, titled "Megatron". In July, she provided information on her forthcoming fifth studio album, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon stating "You're the first to find out ... of course there's a new album." She appeared on the song "Hot Girl Summer" alongside Megan Thee Stallion in August 2019, which debuted and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj had a voice role in The Angry Birds Movie 2, released in the same month. On November 1, 2019, Minaj appeared on the Charlie's Angels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on the song "Bad To You", along with Ariana Grande and Normani. The song peaked at 51 in the UK. The following week, "Tusa", Minaj's collaboration with Colombian singer Karol G, was released to streaming platforms. The track peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top of many other charts.

2020–present: Collaborations and Beam Me Up Scotty re-release

After a social media hiatus, she returned to both Twitter and Instagram on January 30, 2020, to announce her appearance as a guest judge on the premiere episode of the twelfth season on the American reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race. The next day, her collaboration with American singer Meghan Trainor entitled "Nice to Meet Ya" was released accompanied by a music video. Soon after posting a snippet of a new, untitled track, Minaj announced that she would be returning to music with her first solo song of 2020, titled "Yikes" which was released on February 7, 2020.

On May 1, 2020, American rapper Doja Cat featured Minaj on two remixes of her song "Say So". That week, the remix topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Minaj's first single to reach number-one on the chart. It was the first female collaboration in six years since "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX (2014) to peak atop the chart. Minaj also broke the record for having the longest wait to reach the top of the Hot 100, as the remix became her 109th entry on the chart. Minaj charted for two weeks as a featured artist. On June 12, 2020, 6ix9ine and Minaj released "Trollz", which became their third collaboration. It debuted atop the Hot 100, becoming Minaj's second number-one single. This made Minaj the second female rapper to debut atop the Hot 100 chart since Lauryn Hill did so in 1998 with "Doo Wop (That Thing)". As it dropped to 34, "Trollz" became the first single to fall over 30 positions in its second week after debuting at number one, breaking the record for largest fall from number one in the country at the time; the record was broken by Taylor Swift's "Willow" which dropped to 38 after debuting atop of the chart.

On July 30, 2020, Minaj collaborated with ASAP Ferg and MadeinTYO for the track "Move Ya Hips". Almost a month later, Minaj featured on Ty Dolla Sign's track, "Expensive" and featured in the video for it. She continued to appear as a featured artist on several songs into late 2020 and released "What That Speed Bout!?" with Mike Will Made It and YoungBoy Never Broke Again on November 6. Later that month, Minaj announced a six-part docu-series cataloging her life set to premiere in 2021 on HBO Max. On May 7, 2021, "LLC", a track from her fourth album Queen, reached the top of the US iTunes charts after her fans organized an "LLC Party" on social media to encourage others to stream and download the song.

On May 14, 2021, Minaj released a reissue of her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. A song from the reissue, titled "Seeing Green" featuring fellow rappers Drake and Lil Wayne (associated with Young Money's lineage alongside Minaj) reached number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 shortly after it was released. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, making Beam Me Up Scotty the highest charting mixtape from a female rapper in history. Seeing Green was ranked one of the best hip-hop songs of 2021 by HipHopDX. Minaj's verse on "Fractions" from Beam Me Up Scotty was rated 10th on the "Best Rap Verses of 2021" by Complex.

In September 2021, Minaj was revealed to appear on English singer-songwriter Elton John's upcoming studio album, The Lockdown Sessions. She appears on the track "Always Love You" with John and Young Thug.

Achievements

Minaj is the recipient of numerous accolades, including six American Music Awards, twelve BET Awards, seven BET Hip Hop Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, six MTV Europe Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, one Soul Train Music Award, and four Teen Choice Awards. Minaj has received a total of 10 Grammy Award nominations. She received her first Grammy nomination in 2010 for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group ("My Chick Bad" with Ludacris). In 2012, Minaj received three nominations, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album (Pink Friday). In 2014, she also received her second nomination for Best Rap Album (The Pinkprint). She has also won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video three times ("Super Bass", "Anaconda", and "Chun-Li") and has won the Best Female Video Award once ("Starships"). Minaj is the first woman to have appeared on the Forbes "Hip Hop Cash Kings" list since its inception in 2007, having made four consecutive appearances between 2011 and 2014.

In 2010, Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously, and the first woman to appear on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List since its inception in 2007. In 2011, Minaj was ranked sixth on the Rolling Stone master ranking of the "Kings of Hip Hop" which is based on record sales and social media metrics. In 2013, Minaj became the most-charted female rapper in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 at the time, with 44 entries, tying Mariah Carey as seventh among women of all genres. Her seven nominations led those for rap musicians at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, and she is the only rapper to win the BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist seven consecutive times. Minaj has nineteen top 10 singles on the chart, the most for any female rapper, with four of those being solo songs. In 2017, Minaj broke the record for most Hot 100 entries by any female artist, surpassing Aretha Franklin, and in 2018, she became the first female artist to accumulate 100 entries on the Hot 100. She held the record for most Hot 100 entries by a female artist until it was broken in December 2020 by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She is the second-female artist with the most Hot 100 entries, behind Swift. In 2019, Billboard Women in Music awarded her with the Game Changer Award for redefining success for women in hip-hop this decade.

In 2019, her collaboration with Karol G, named "Tusa", went on to be nominated twice at the Latin Grammys. On the charts, the song debuted at number one on the "Hot Latin Songs" chart which made it the first song with two lead female artists to do so. The song went on to become the longest-running number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100, having spent 25 weeks at number one on the chart. In 2020, Minaj become the second female rapper to chart at number one on the Hot 100 more than once with her 6ix9ine collaboration "Trollz".[384] She also became the second female to debut atop the chart since Lauryn Hill in 1998. In the same year, she also was the most streamed female rapper on Spotify. In 2021, the music video for "Anaconda" became the first female rap solo song to reach one billion views on YouTube. This marked her sixth overall video to reach one billion views, becoming the first female rapper to do so. In 2016, she was listed on the Time 100 annual list of the most influential people in the world, becoming the only female rapper to appear that year; she was also featured on one of the physical covers of the issue. Complex ranked her eighth on their list of best rappers of the 2010s, being the only female rapper on the list.

Controversies

Remy Ma

Disagreements between Minaj and rapper Remy Ma originated in 2007, when Ma took note of Minaj's freestyle record, nicknamed "Dirty Money", from her mixtape Playtime Is Over (2007). In the record, Minaj recites: "Tell that bitch with the crown to run it like Chris Brown/she won three rounds, I'ma need a hundred thou/like 'Chinatown'—bitches better bow down/oh you ain't know, betcha bitches know now/fuck I got a gun—let her know that I'm the one". Minaj reportedly never confirmed or denied that the song was about Ma. Although Ma and Minaj shared words of encouragement in recent years, their relationship soon soured, and they began releasing verses and songs with lyrics aimed at each other, including Ma's "Money Showers" with Fat Joe and Minaj's "Make Love" with Gucci Mane. On February 25, 2017, Ma released "Shether". On March 3, 2017, during a visit to The Wendy Williams Show, Ma accused Minaj of "trying to keep [her] off of red carpets" and "trying to make sure awards don't go to [her]". A week later, in an interview hosted by BuzzFeed News, Ma stated that she had second thoughts about releasing the diss track, and commented on the difficulties of being a woman in the music industry. Minaj subsequently responded with the song "No Frauds", in which she accused Ma of spreading falsehoods and made fun of Ma's poor record sales with Plata O Plomo.

Lil' Kim

Minaj has been embroiled in a feud with rapper Lil' Kim since her success with Pink Friday. Kim accused Minaj of copying her image, saying: "If you are going to steal my swag, you gonna have to pay. Something gotta give. You help me, I help you. That's how it goes to me." Minaj's single "Roman's Revenge" with Eminem was believed to be a response to Kim's comments, although she later denied this. She responded to the situation in an interview with HOT 97's Angie Martinez saying, "She picked a fight with Foxy, then she picked a fight with Eve, then she picked a fight with Remy, then it was Mrs. Wallace, then it was Nicki Minaj. Every time you in the news, it's 'cause you gettin' at somebody! Where's your music? Put your music out, and when I see your name on Billboard, that's when I'll respond to you. Other than that, goodbye. It's Barbie, bitch." Lil' Kim reignited the feud with the release of her mixtape Black Friday (the title of which directly referenced Minaj). The artwork portrays Lil' Kim decapitating Minaj with a sword. A fragment of a diss track called "Tragedy" was released in response by Minaj in April 2011. Following the release of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, critics suggested that the track "Stupid Hoe" may have contained attacks directed at Kim. Lil' Kim later suggested in an interview with 105's Breakfast Club that the song "Automatic" was similar to her unreleased material, also calling Minaj "obnoxious" and "catty". Minaj seemingly alluded to the feud in a 2018 Genius interview, saying: "Someone got at me. A veteran got at me, and I hit them with Roman's Revenge and then I kept on going." In 2021, Lil' Kim stated on the red carpet of the BET Awards that she would like to do a Verzuz with Minaj.

Cardi B

During New York Fashion Week 2018, at an after party hosted by Harper's Bazaar, fellow rapper Cardi B caused significant controversy when she threw one of her high heel shoes at, and attempted to physically attack Minaj. Cardi B later alleged that Minaj had previously "liked" comments made by other users on social media, who spoke negatively about Cardi B's abilities to take care of her newly born daughter. Minaj subsequently discussed the incident in an episode of her Beats 1 radio show, Queen Radio, in which she denied the accusations and called the altercation "humiliating", said that she would never talk negatively about a child, and accused Cardi of allegedly cyberbullying someone named "Clarissa" in a heated Instagram exchange from 2014.

Personal life

In her song "All Things Go", Minaj revealed that she had an abortion as a teenager. Minaj has said that although it has "haunted" her, she stands by her decision. In July 2011, her cousin Nicholas Telemaque was murdered near his home in Brooklyn, an incident she references in her songs "All Things Go" and "Champion".

Early in her career, Minaj identified as bisexual. However, she eventually stated in a 2010 Rolling Stone interview that to get attention: "I think girls are sexy, but I'm not going to lie and say that I date girls." In May 2020, she once again addressed her sexuality, stating in a verse on Doja Cat's "Say So" remix, "Used to be bi, but now I'm just hetero." The lyric received backlash and divided members of the LGBT community, with some accusing her of "bisexual erasure" and calling the lyric problematic, while others voicing "there is nothing wrong with originally identifying as bisexual, and then later in life identifying as straight."

In late 2014, Minaj separated from her longtime boyfriend Safaree Samuels, whom she had dated since 2003. According to Minaj, he had proposed to her, but she declined. Several tracks on The Pinkprint are believed to have been inspired by the end of their relationship. Minaj began dating rapper Meek Mill in early 2015. In January 2017, she announced that she had ended their relationship. She briefly dated fellow rapper Nas in the year 2018.

In November 2017, Minaj's brother Jelani was convicted of predatory sexual assault against a child and endangering the welfare of a child. On January 27, 2020, he was sentenced by Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Robert McDonald to 25 years to life. Minaj has not publicly commented on her brother's arrest.

In December 2018, Minaj began dating her childhood friend Kenneth "Zoo" Petty and filed for a marriage license in August 2019. She announced that they had officially married on October 21. She hyphenated his last name to hers upon marriage, becoming Maraj-Petty. After facing federal charges for failing to register as a sex offender in California, her husband was entered into the California Megan's Law database in 2020, having been convicted of attempted rape in the first degree in 1995 in New York. He previously served nearly four years in prison for the mentioned crime. In 2021, the victim filed a lawsuit against the couple for alleged harassment and alleged intimidation.

In July 2020, Minaj announced via Instagram that she was expecting her first child. On September 30, 2020, Minaj gave birth to a son. Minaj refers to him as "Papa Bear" in public.

In February 2021, Minaj's father, Robert Maraj, died while walking along a road on Long Island in a hit-and-run accident. He was 64. Charles Polevich, a 70-year-old man, was charged with killing Maraj. Nassau County Police Department said in a news conference they had tracked Polevich's car, and he turned himself in to police. He was arraigned and charged with two felonies: leaving scene of incident involving death of a person and tampering with or suppressing physical evidence. Minaj commented on her father's passing in a 2021 letter, saying, "[..] it has been the most devastating loss of my life. I find myself wanting to call him all the time, more so now that he's gone. [...] May his soul rest in paradise. He was very loved & will be very missed."

(sources: fanpop.com, artistdirect.com, allmusic.com, wikipedia.org)

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