Onika Tanya Maraj is Nicki Minaj's full name.¹⁾

Nicki was born in Southside Jamaica Queens, New York, on December 8, 1982.²⁾

She has African, Trinidadian, and Indo-Asian ancestors.³⁾

Nicki has a tattoo on the left side of her arm. It's in Chinese and means “God is always with me”.⁴⁾

She attended Manhattan's LaGuardia High School.⁵⁾

She is acrophobic, which means she is terrified of heights.⁶⁾

Nicki doesn't like cats and much prefers dogs.⁷⁾

Nicki's father, Robert Maraj, is a financial executive and part-time gospel singer, while her mother, Carol, is a gospel vocalist who has also worked in payroll and accounting departments.⁸⁾

When she was a child, her drug-addicted father sold all of their possessions and even set fire to their house in an effort to murder her mother. Minaj's difficult upbringing instilled in her the desire to build a name for herself and empower other women in vulnerable situations, such as her mother.⁹⁾

Nicki's 38-year-old brother, Jelani Maraj, was convicted in 2017 of predatory sexual assault on his 11-year-old stepdaughter.¹⁰⁾

She was dismissed as a Red Lobster waiter for being nasty to a customer. In this case, Minaj pursued the client out of the restaurant to give her the middle finger and demand her pen back. In fact, Nicki has acknowledged to have been dismissed from 15 jobs for the same reason. ¹¹⁾

In 2004, Nicki joined the band The Hoodstars, whose song “Don't Mess With” was used as the introduction song for WWE Diva Victoria.¹²⁾

For years, fans have assumed that Minaj had gone under the knife a few times. Despite the fact that a nose operation or a facelift may appear evident, the rapper fought back against accusations, declaring, “I never had surgery on my face”. When people see my makeup, they assume I'm doing strange things to my skin, but it's just cosmetics“.¹³⁾

Nicki has already spoken about her abortion when she was 16, calling it the toughest thing she's ever done. She is convinced that she had nothing to offer the kid and that she eventually made the correct decision.¹⁴⁾

Nicki Minaj was the first female rapper to appear on the list in 2016. This was due to her work ethic, female empowerment, and her responsibility as a role model to so many other young women throughout the world.¹⁵⁾