45 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Nicki Minaj

Hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj is a famous American rapper, singer, songwriter, vocal actress, and a television superstar. She was featured in seven songs on Billboard's Hot 100 at the same time, even before the release of her debut album in 2010.

1. Her full name is Onika Tanya Maraj.

2. She was born on December 8, 1982 in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago. Her grandmother took care of her there.

3. She has 2 brothers and 1 sister sister.

4. She is of African, Trinidadian and Indo-Asian descent.

5. As a child, Nicki had a rough upbringing. Her father was abusive and a drug addict. He tried to kill her mother and even attempted to set the house on fire.

6. She was moved to Queens, New York at the age of 5 with her mother.

7. She wrote her first rap song at the age of 12.

8. In middle school Nicki used to play the clarinet.

9. She learnt acting at the La Guardia High School of Music and Art, the school that inspired the movie Fame.

10. Nicki took up a job at the Red Lobster restaurant as a waitress before she became famous.

11. Her tough upbringing helped fuel her drive to rise above the life her parents knew. "I've always had this female-empowerment thing in the back of my mind," she told Details magazine, "because I wanted my mother to be stronger, and she couldn't be. I thought, 'If I'm successful, I can change her life.'"

12. Nicki Minaj used to sing as a backup singer for the local New York City Rappers group before she became so popular.

14. She was eventually discovered by Dirty Money CEO Fendi, who came across Minaj's MySpace page, loved what he heard, and immediately signed her to his label.

15. Her first mix tape titled "Playtime Is Over" came out in 2007.

16. Nicki Minaj's first breakthrough as a rapper was with Lil' Wayne in which they recorded a variety of mixtapes.

17. In 2010, Nicki Minaj's songs topped the charts of Billboard's Top 100.

18. Nicki Minaj is also the first female singer to top Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart since 2002.

19. Some of Nicki's influences include Foxy Brown, Missy Elliott, Lil Kim and of course, Lil Wayne!

20. She is 5'4″ tall.

21. She is gorgeous and known for her curvy figure, but she has had some help in that department. Nicki had butt implants as shown in these before and after photos. She has never officially admitted or denied it, but she did deny rumors that she had work done to her face. "I don't mind the questions, I don't mind the fascination ... But I've said this before, it doesn't define me. So, I try my best not to focus my energy on it," she explained. "Like, if you guys focus energy on and spend energy on it, I don't mind it. You know, people are sitting in the barbershop talking about my butt, it's conversational. That's what people are gonna do. As long as they're talking about Nicki Minaj, I'm good."

22. She has one tattoo on her left arm. It is in Chinese, and translates to "God is with me always".

23. Just in case it wasn't obvious enough, her favorite color is pink.

26. She says she is a great cook and enjoys it very much.

27. Minaj reached a national audience with her 2012 Super Bowl appearance. She performed alongside pop superstar Madonna in the game's popular halftime show.

28. Speaking of Madonna, she kissed the superstar on her 29th birthday.

29. In March 2012, Minaj made a guest appearance on the popular television competition American Idol.

30. When she joined American Idol, she reportedly told Jennifer Lopez, a former celebrity judge, to "scoot over a little bit". Rumors then flew of a feud between Minaj and Lopez, which Minaj later dismissed.

31. However, things did get steamy on the show ambetween her and fellow celebrity judge Mariah Carey. The pair seemed to get off on the wrong foot and had some heated arguments while on screen.

32. Minaj and Carey got into an argument during auditions in Charlotte, North Carolina, with Minaj later storming off stage.

33. She was also critical of the show, tweeting that American Idol "is NOT a singing competition."

34. Her favorite go-to snack is strawberry-banana yogurt.

35. Her favorite fast food restaurant is Popeye's.

36. Nicki is the first female rap artist ever to perform at Yankee Stadium.

37. She enjoys watching TV whenever she can and her favorite program to watch is Judge Judy. "She (Judge Judy) is just straightforward, but she doesn't realize that she's really -- in her next life -- a comedian," she said in an interview.

38. She loves shopping for clothes and her favorite stores to shop at are costume stores. It kinda shows.

39. Her single, Starships, holds the #1 spot as Most Consecutive Weeks in the Billboard Top 10 songs that debuted there with 21 weeks ahead of The Black Eyed Peas, I Gotta Feeling with 20 weeks.

40. She helped raise $250 million to people with AIDS with her Viva Glam lipstick.

41. Her favorite fruit are mangos.

42. She sometimes goes in and out of her English accent during interviews and songs. Minaj says her inspiration behind the accents are Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) and Hermione (Emma Watson) from the Harry Potter movie series.

43. Her favorite actress is Zoë Saldana.

44. Her first "Hollywood crush" was Morris Chestnut and Omar Epps.

45. She has alter egos: Roman Zolanski, Rosa, Norman, Tyrone and so many more.

46. Nicki has been featured on over 20 different tracks by artists such as Mariah Carey, Robin Thicke, Justin Bieber, Drake, Rihanna and Sean Kingston.

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