74 Fun Facts About Nicki Minaj

What is Nicki Minaj's birth name?

Her birth name is Onika Tanya Maraj; born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1982, she adopted the stage name Nicki Minaj while chasing a rap career in New York in the mid-2000s.

She was born in the Saint James district of which Trinidad and Tobago city?

She was born in Saint James, a district of Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, and lived there with her grandmother while her mother went ahead to New York.

At roughly what age was she brought to live with her parents in New York City?

Her mother had moved to the Bronx to attend Monroe College before sending for her, and the family settled in the South Jamaica neighborhood.

Which New York City borough did she grow up in after arriving from the Caribbean?

She grew up in Queens, in the South Jamaica neighborhood; a planned Freeform sitcom about her childhood there, titled Nicki, never made it to air.

She successfully auditioned for which specialist New York City public high school?

She attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, the school that inspired Fame, where she trained in acting.

Before her music career took off, she waited tables at a Bronx branch of which restaurant chain?

She waited tables at a Red Lobster in the Bronx and has said she was fired for being rude to customers, one of several jobs she held before rapping paid.

What was the New York hip hop group Nicki Minaj rapped in from 2002 to 2004 called?

The Hoodstars, formed in 2002, included Lou$tar, son of Full Force's Bowlegged Lou, and Safaree Samuels; the group split after recording a WWE entrance theme in 2004.

In 2004 her early group recorded a WWE entrance theme, 'Don't Mess With', for which Diva?

'Don't Mess With' was the entrance theme of WWE Diva Victoria and appeared on the 2004 compilation ThemeAddict: WWE The Music, Vol. 6.

Who is credited with changing her stage name to 'Minaj' after signing her to Dirty Money?

Fendi, head of the Brooklyn label Dirty Money Entertainment, found her on Myspace, signed her to a 180-day contract and is credited with changing her stage name to Minaj.

What was the title of her first mixtape, released in July 2007?

Playtime Is Over, her debut mixtape, was released on July 5, 2007, by the Brooklyn label Dirty Money Entertainment, a year before her second mixtape, Sucka Free.

Her rap on The Come Up DVD caught which rapper's attention, leading to an invite to his Young Money imprint?

Lil Wayne spotted her on The Come Up DVD and signed her to his Young Money Entertainment imprint in August 2009, the year of her Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape.

Her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty was reissued in 2021 and debuted where on the Billboard 200?

That made it the highest-charting re-released mixtape by any rapper and the highest debut ever for a female rap mixtape.

Which 2010 Sean Garrett-featuring single was dropped as Pink Friday's lead single after underperforming?

'Massive Attack', featuring Sean Garrett and produced by Alex da Kid, was released in April 2010 as Pink Friday's intended lead single but was dropped from the album after a weak chart run.

Pink Friday's lead single 'Your Love' samples a 1995 cover of 'No More I Love You's' by whom?

'Your Love' samples Annie Lennox's 1995 version of 'No More I Love You's', a song first recorded by The Lover Speaks in 1986; the Pop Wansel-produced track leaked before its official release.

Her 2010 single 'Check It Out' with will.i.am is built around the hook of which 1979 Buggles song?

'Check It Out' is built on the hook of the Buggles' 'Video Killed the Radio Star', the first music video MTV ever aired in 1981; the Nicki Minaj and will.i.am track peaked at number 24 on the Hot 100.

Which fellow Young Money artist is featured on the Pink Friday single 'Moment 4 Life'?

Drake, her Young Money labelmate, raps the second verse of 'Moment 4 Life', which was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards and peaked at number 13 on the Hot 100.

Pink Friday sold how many copies in its first week in the United States?

Pink Friday sold 375,000 copies in its first week in November 2010, entering the Billboard 200 just behind Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and reached the top in February 2011.

Pink Friday's opening week was second all-time for a female rap album only to which 1998 album?

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill opened with about 422,000 copies in September 1998, the biggest first week for a female rap album when Pink Friday arrived in 2010.

On 'Roman's Revenge', Nicki's alter ego trades verses with which rapper performing as his own alter ego?

Eminem appears as his Slim Shady persona on 'Roman's Revenge', a Swizz Beatz-produced Pink Friday track on which the two trade insult-heavy verses.

Which alter ego did she describe as a 'demon', a 'lunatic' and a gay boy who lives inside her?

Roman Zolanski, the volatile alter ego she has called a demon and a lunatic, got a whole album named for him with 2012's Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.

Roman's proper British mother, heard screaming at the end of 'Roman's Revenge', is which alter ego?

Martha Zolanski, Roman's prim British mother, scolds him in an English accent in the outro of 'Roman's Revenge' and plays the fairy godmother in the 'Moment 4 Life' video.

Which invented character was her first childhood identity, created to escape her parents' fighting?

Cookie was the first of the characters she invented as a child; the persona later gave way to Harajuku Barbie and then to Nicki Minaj herself.

Which indie folk act's frontman, Justin Vernon, sings on 'Monster' with Kanye West, Jay-Z and Rick Ross?

Justin Vernon fronts Bon Iver, the Wisconsin indie folk project behind For Emma, Forever Ago; he sings the intro and outro of 'Monster' on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Performing 'Monster' in 2010, she became the first female rapper to perform at which venue?

She joined Kanye West for 'Monster' at Yankee Stadium in September 2010, a guest spot during Jay-Z's Home & Home concerts in the Bronx.

Her first Grammy nomination, in 2010, was for a guest verse on which rapper's 'My Chick Bad'?

Ludacris's 'My Chick Bad', featuring her verse, was nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 53rd Grammys; a year later she earned three more nods, including Best New Artist.

Which song did Nicki Minaj perform at the 2012 Grammys, in an exorcism-themed staging?

'Roman Holiday', from Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, got a mock-exorcism staging at the 54th Grammys in February 2012 that drew condemnation from the Catholic League's Bill Donohue.

In 2022 the MTV VMAs gave her which career-honoring prize, followed by a medley of her hits?

She received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2022 MTV VMAs, which she also co-hosted with LL Cool J and Jack Harlow before hosting the 2023 show alone.

'Super Bass' became a sleeper hit in 2011 and peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100?

At the time it was the highest-charting solo single by a female rapper since Missy Elliott's 'Work It' in 2002.

Which songwriter co-wrote 'Super Bass' and also provides its additional vocals?

Ester Dean, the writer behind hits like Rihanna's 'Rude Boy', co-wrote 'Super Bass' with producers Kane Beatz and JMIKE and sings its additional vocals.

In 2011 she was an opening act on which pop star's Femme Fatale Tour?

Britney Spears headlined the 2011 Femme Fatale Tour with her as an opener; that year the two also teamed with Kesha on a remix of 'Till the World Ends' that hit number three in the US.

'Starships' was produced by which hitmaker, whose credits include Lady Gaga's early singles?

RedOne, the Moroccan-Swedish producer behind Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' and 'Poker Face', produced 'Starships' with Carl Falk and Rami Yacoub for Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.

The 'Starships' music video was shot on which Hawaiian island?

The Anthony Mandler-directed video was shot on the beaches of Oahu in Hawaii, and it won Best Female Video at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.

'Starships' peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012?

It spent 21 consecutive weeks in the top ten and was the fifth best-selling single of 2012 in the US.

At the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show she performed 'Give Me All Your Luvin'' with M.I.A. and which headliner?

Madonna headlined the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show in Indianapolis on February 5, 2012, bringing out Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. as cheerleaders for 'Give Me All Your Luvin''.

Which New York radio station's 2012 Summer Jam did Nicki Minaj pull out of after a DJ dismissed 'Starships'?

Hot 97's DJ Peter Rosenberg mocked 'Starships' from the Summer Jam stage in June 2012, and at her Young Money label boss's direction she pulled out of the MetLife Stadium show that same day.

She voiced which character in the 2012 animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift?

Steffie, a fashion-obsessed teenage mammoth in Peaches's clique, was voiced by Nicki Minaj in Ice Age: Continental Drift, 2012's highest-grossing animated film.

In her live-action film debut, The Other Woman (2014), she played Carly's legal assistant, named what?

As Lydia, the sharp-tongued assistant to Cameron Diaz's lawyer Carly, she made her live-action film debut in the 2014 comedy, which also starred Leslie Mann.

In Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016) she played a 'sassy' hairdresser with what name?

She played Draya, a flirtatious stylist working alongside Ice Cube's Calvin and Common's Rashad in the Chicago barbershop of the 2016 sequel Barbershop: The Next Cut.

She judged American Idol season 12 alongside Keith Urban and which singer, with whom she feuded?

Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj clashed throughout American Idol season 12 in 2013, a feud President Obama said he was confident they would sort out; both quit after one season.

Who won the season of American Idol on which she served as a judge?

Candice Glover, a singer from St. Helena Island, South Carolina, won American Idol season 12 in May 2013 over runner-up Kree Harrison.

Which 2014 collaboration with Jessie J and Ariana Grande gave her a first number-one single in the UK?

'Bang Bang' topped the UK Singles Chart in August 2014, her first number one there; the Max Martin-co-produced track also peaked at number three on the US Hot 100.

'Anaconda' prominently samples which 1992 hit?

'Anaconda' is built on Sir Mix-a-Lot's 1992 number-one 'Baby Got Back', sampling its bassline and 'my anaconda don't want none' lines throughout the 2014 Pinkprint single.

'Anaconda' peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest as a lead artist at the time?

Madame Tussauds later unveiled a wax figure of her in a pose from the video, which drew both her approval and some criticism.

The 'Anaconda' video's 19.6 million first-day views broke a Vevo record previously held by which artist?

Miley Cyrus's 'Wrecking Ball' had held the Vevo 24-hour record with about 19.3 million views until 'Anaconda' drew 19.6 million on its first day in August 2014.

Whose record for the most Billboard Hot 100 entries by a female artist did she break in March 2017?

Aretha Franklin's mark of 73 Hot 100 entries fell in March 2017 when three new Nicki Minaj songs, including the Remy Ma response 'No Frauds', lifted her total to 76.

In 2010 she became the first female solo artist with how many singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at once?

In 2010 she had 7 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, a first for a female solo artist, built largely on a run of guest verses for other artists.

Which 2018 Tyga single made her the first woman ever to accumulate 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100?

Tyga's 'Dip', with her featured verse, entered the Hot 100 in late 2018 as her 100th appearance on the chart, making her the first woman to reach that number.

Her 2018 single 'Chun-Li' takes its title from a character in which fighting game series?

Chun-Li is the Chinese martial artist from Capcom's Street Fighter series; the single, released April 12, 2018, won Best Hip-Hop Video at that year's MTV VMAs.

Which Travis Scott album kept Nicki Minaj's Queen (2018) off the number one spot?

Astroworld held number one on the Billboard 200 for a second week in August 2018, keeping Queen at number two; she accused Travis Scott of padding his total with merchandise and tour-pass bundles.

Her radio show Queen Radio launched in 2018 on which platform?

Queen Radio debuted on Beats 1, Apple Music's live radio station, in August 2018 alongside her album Queen, and was revived on Amazon's short-lived Amp app in 2022.

Her first Billboard Hot 100 number one came in 2020 via a remix of 'Say So' by which artist?

Doja Cat's 'Say So' remix, adding a Nicki Minaj verse, hit number one in May 2020, the first Hot 100 chart-topper for either of them and the first by two female rappers together.

'Trollz', which debuted at number one in June 2020, was her collaboration with which rapper?

'Trollz' paired her with 6ix9ine for the third time after 'Fefe' and 'Mama'; it debuted at number one in June 2020 and then fell to number 34 the next week, a record drop from the top.

'Super Freaky Girl', her first solo Hot 100 number one, samples a 1981 hit by which funk artist?

'Super Freaky Girl' samples Rick James's 1981 hit 'Super Freak' and debuted at number one in August 2022; she objected when the Recording Academy moved it from the rap to the pop categories.

'Barbie World' (2023) with Ice Spice heavily samples a 1997 hit by which Danish-Norwegian Europop band?

Aqua's 1997 hit 'Barbie Girl' is sampled so heavily that the band is credited alongside Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice; 'Barbie World' earned two Grammy nominations from the Barbie soundtrack.

What did Pink Friday 2's eventual release date, December 8, 2023, coincide with?

It was her birthday: after delays from October 20 to November 17, the album arrived on December 8, 2023, the day she turned 41.

Pink Friday 2 topping the Billboard 200 made her the first female rapper with how many number-one albums?

It also set the record for the highest first-week vinyl sales ever by a female rap album.

Pink Friday 2 was the first album she released solely through which label?

Pink Friday 2 came out through Republic Records alone, without the Young Money and Cash Money credits that had appeared on her first four albums.

Which Beyoncé song got a 2014 remix featuring a Nicki Minaj verse?

Beyoncé's 'Flawless' was remixed with a Nicki Minaj verse in August 2014; the pair teamed up again on 'Feeling Myself' from The Pinkprint later that year.

The Pink Friday 2 World Tour opened on March 1, 2024, in which city?

The tour opened at Oakland Arena in California on March 1, 2024, before heading across North America and then to Europe in the spring.

Which R&B singer opened the first North American leg of the Pink Friday 2 World Tour?

Monica, the R&B singer behind 'The Boy Is Mine' and 'Angel of Mine', was the opening act for the tour's first North American leg in spring 2024.

Nicki Minaj was briefly detained at which city's airport in May 2024 after marijuana was found in her luggage?

Dutch police held her at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on May 25, 2024, over cannabis in her bags; she was fined and released, but that night's Manchester show was postponed.

What is her 2023 record label imprint, whose first release was the 'Princess Diana' remix with Ice Spice, called?

Heavy On It, the record imprint she launched in 2023, made its first release with the 'Princess Diana' remix, which Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj took to number one on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart.

What are her fans collectively known as?

Her fans are the Barbz, a name drawn from her Harajuku Barbie persona and her habit of calling herself Barbie; male fans are sometimes called Ken Barbz.

Kenneth Petty, whom she married in 2019, was described as what kind of acquaintance?

A childhood friend from her old New York neighborhood, Kenneth Petty reconnected with her in 2018; she announced their marriage in October 2019, a year after going public as a couple.

She refers to her son, born September 30, 2020, publicly by what nickname?

She calls her son Papa Bear rather than using his name in public; she announced the pregnancy in July 2020 and he was born on September 30 that year.

In March 2015 she was announced as a co-owner of which music streaming service, alongside Jay-Z?

Tidal was relaunched by Jay-Z on March 30, 2015, with Nicki Minaj among the artist co-owners onstage alongside Beyoncé, Kanye West, Rihanna and Daft Punk.

In 2023 she became a playable 'operator' in which video game franchise?

A Nicki Minaj operator bundle arrived in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone with Season 05 in August 2023, alongside bundles for Snoop Dogg and 21 Savage.

Which company sued over Nicki Minaj's 'Barbie-Que' Rap Snacks flavour, forcing a rename to 'Bar-B-Quin'?

Mattel, which owns the Barbie trademark, sued Rap Snacks in 2022 over the 'Barbie-Que' chips, which were renamed; the toymaker had auctioned a one-off Nicki Minaj Barbie doll for charity in 2011.

From 2013 to 2015 she released seasonal clothing collections for which US retailer?

Her Nicki Minaj Collection of clothing and accessories launched at Kmart in October 2013, joining celebrity lines the retailer sold from Sofía Vergara and Adam Levine.

Her 2016 role-playing game Nicki Minaj: The Empire, for iOS and Android, was made with which developer?

Glu Mobile, the studio behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, built Nicki Minaj: The Empire, a rap-career role-playing game released for iOS and Android in December 2016.

Where did she rank as top woman on Billboard and Vibe's 2023 list of the 50 greatest rappers?

Billboard and Vibe's February 2023 ranking placed her at number 10, the only woman in its top ten, which was headed by Jay-Z.

What was the name of the lipstick Nicki Minaj launched with MAC Cosmetics in November 2010?

Pink 4 Friday, a limited-edition lipstick sold on four consecutive Fridays in late 2010, promoted her debut album Pink Friday; she later fronted MAC's Viva Glam campaigns in 2012 and 2013.

Nicki Minaj was the first woman to appear on which Forbes list, making four straight appearances from 2011?

Forbes' Hip Hop Cash Kings list, launched in 2007, had never included a woman before she made it in 2011 with an estimated $6.5 million in earnings.

How many first-week equivalent units did The Pinkprint sell on its December 2014 release?

The Pinkprint opened with 244,000 equivalent units, 198,000 of them pure sales, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 behind Taylor Swift's 1989 in December 2014.