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Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty ( Maraj; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her dynamic rap flow, witty lyrics, musical versatility, and alter egos and is credited as a driving force in the mainstream resurgence of female rap in the early 2010s. Minaj began rapping professionally in the early 2000s and gained recognition with her three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009.

Her debut studio album, ''Pink Friday'' (2010), topped the US ''Billboard'' 200, achieved the largest female rap album sales week of the 21st century, and spawned the RIAA diamond-certified top-five single "Super Bass". Minaj explored dance-pop on her second US number-one album, ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' (2012); it produced the internationally successful single "Starships", which is certified diamond. She returned to her hip hop roots with her third and fourth albums, ''The Pinkprint'' (2014) and ''Queen'' (2018), which yielded the hit singles "Anaconda" and "Chun-Li". Minaj achieved her first two ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles in 2020 as a featured artist on Doja Cat's "Say So" and 6ix9ine's "Trollz"; the former was the first female rap collaboration to top the chart. Two years later, she garnered her first solo US number-one song with "Super Freaky Girl", the lead single from her fifth studio album, ''Pink Friday 2'' (2023), which debuted at number one in the US and broke several female rap sales and streaming records. Its concert tour became the fourth-highest grossing tour for a rapper and highest-grossing tour for a female rapper in history.

Minaj is one of the world's best-selling music artists, and the best-selling female rapper, with over 100 million records sold. She has three diamond-certified songs by the RIAA and in 2024 became the first female rapper with multiple diamond-certified solo songs. She is among the RIAA's 50 highest-certified digital singles artists. In 2023, ''Billboard'' and ''Vibe'' ranked Minaj as the greatest female rapper of all time. Her various accolades include a Brit Award, five ''Billboard'' Music Awards, nine American Music Awards, eight MTV Video Music Awards (including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), 13 BET Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, and three ''Guinness World Records''. ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, and she was honored with the ''Billboard'' Women in Music Game Changer Award in 2019. Her outspoken views, personal life and fanbase have received significant media attention.

Minaj founded the Heavy On It Records label imprint in 2023. Outside of music, her other endeavors include a fragrance line, a press on nails line, a Loci sneakers collection, and the radio show ''Queen Radio'' (2018–2023); She also played roles in the animated films ''Ice Age: Continental Drift'' (2012) and ''The Angry Birds Movie 2'' (2019), and the comedy films ''The Other Woman'' (2014) and ''Barbershop: The Next Cut'' (2016). On television, she served as a judge on the twelfth season of ''American Idol'' (2013). Provided by Wikipedia