Nicki Minaj is the stage name of Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, a rapper and singer from Saint James, United States, born in 1982. She first gains wider attention through her work with Lil Wayne and her former group the Hoodstarz, also listed as The HoodStars, and is later associated with Young Money, Lou$tar and the HoodStars, and The Dream Team.

Style and early releases

Minaj is known for musical versatility, a range of alter egos, and an animated rap flow. She first attracts underground attention with her debut mixtape, Playtime Is Over. Two further mixtapes, Sucka Free and Beam Me Up Scotty, follow before her debut studio album, Pink Friday.

Albums and commercial success

Pink Friday sells more than 375,000 copies in its first week and becomes the second-highest first-week seller for a female rap album. Across her discography, Minaj sells more than 100 million records. She has three number-one albums in the United States for a female rapper: Pink Friday, Pink Friday ... Roman Reloaded and Pink Friday 2.

Singles and chart records

Minaj has two diamond-certified singles, “Bang Bang” and “Super Bass”. “Super Bass” is her best-selling single and reaches twelve-times platinum, which makes it the highest-certified solo single by a female rapper. She also has 23 top-ten songs in the United States, the most for a female rapper. In 2017, she breaks the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 entries by any female recording artist, passing Aretha Franklin, and in 2018 she becomes the first female artist to pass 100 Hot 100 entries.

Recognition and online reach

Billboard staff rank Minaj as the top-selling female rapper of the 2010s and one of the greatest rappers of all time. She also becomes the first female rapper with nine music videos reaching more than one billion views on YouTube. Those videos include “Side to Side”, “Bang Bang”, “Swalla”, “Tusa”, “Hey Mama”, “Beauty and a Beat”, “Anaconda”, “FEFE” and “Super Bass”. She is one of two female artists to reach that total, alongside Rihanna.

Touring

The Pink Friday 2 World Tour, also known as the Gag City Tour, is her fourth solo tour and fifth overall. It covers 79 shows across three continents and is her most extensive tour. The tour runs from Oakland, California, to Elmont, New York, and is her first concert tour in over five years, as well as her first North American tour in over nine years. Monica supports the first North American leg, while Bia, Tyga and Skillibeng support the second.

Labels and genres

Her listed labels include Heavy on It, Nicki Minaj, Harajuku Barbie Music and O. Maraj Publishing Co. Her genres include contemporary R&B, East Coast hip hop, electronic, hardcore hip hop, hip hop and pop.