Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj, known professionally as Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, Minaj earned public attention after releasing three mixtapes between 2007–09. She has been signed to Young Money Entertainment since 2009...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRapper
Date of Birth8 December 1982
CitySaint James, Trinidad And Tobago
CountryUnited States of America
Female rappers get it the hardest. You have to be a girl, yet you have to be just as hard as the guys. I think some female rappers get scared out of the business before they can make it.
I look at rap as an opportunity to act. My head is full of different characters - in each song I'm auditioning a character.
A lot of rappers want somebody to always sing on their records. If you can hold a note, they're gonna' ask you to come and be apart of their creativity. At that time, they were eager and on the streets selling drugs or in the studio making music. That was a big part of our lives were I grew up.
I do lots of weird voices and I kind of act out my raps. That's something that's always been in me.
All rappers predominantly sound the same and want you to think their meanest person in the world, and that they're all gangster and all that. My acting allowed me to be playful and crazy, and it helps me tell stories and all that. I think it's a good time; rap needs that kind of stuff.
But, by just being myself, I end up touching a lot more people who might never have paid much attention to a female rapper.
When I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot . . . and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing.
You can't run game on a rapper. I'm always 10 steps ahead of you.
I'm in my dressing room about to play to a sold-out crowd at the O2 arena in Ireland. Name a female rapper who's ever done that and I will give you $100,000.
These broke rappers always rappin bout a pink truck. I'm only happy when I'm hoppin out the Brinks truck.
I don't know where I fit in the spectrum of rap yet...
I look at rap as an opportunity to act. My head is full of different characters - in each song I'm auditioning a character.
I can rap in a London accent, make weird faces, wear spandex, wigs, and black lipstick. I can be more creative than the average male rapper.
I'm a rapper... Gaga's a fantastic artist, you know, she paved her way. She's opened her own lane. But I think that I have my own lane. And we never cross. Ever. So, you know, I really don't get the comparison anymore. Our music doesn't sound the same. Our stage presence is not the same. I just can't see the similarities.