Nicki Minaj

Nicki , born Onika Tanya Maraj, spent most of her childhood growing up in Queens in New York City, but up until she was five she lived on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad with her Grandmother. Even at a young age Nicki was naturally talented and attended a high school that nurtured artists.

Read more: Nicki Minaj Bio http://www.kidzworld.com/article/25272-nicki-minaj-bio#ixzz1pCnOuzzL 

Because she came from a troubled home Nicki threw herself into performance, learning drama and music and even created alter egos , more than one which she still uses for her music today—“Nicki Minaj” is one of them!

She grew up in a troubled family with a father who was a drug addict. Like many other big stars, she began her singing career as a backing vocalist for other artists.  

Her talent was first spotted by Young Money CEO Fendi on MySpace and later was recruited for The Carter Edition of Young Money's "The Come Up" DVD series. Her rapping skill caught Lil Wayne's attention who later on tagged her for a number of collaborations in his mixtapes. 

Eventually rapper Lil' Wayne and his label Young Money Entertainment signed her and she got to work on her full length album PinkFriday, which came out at the end of 2010.Pink Friday has already gone platinum.

Maybe it’s the drama queen in her, or the alter egos, or that fact that she’s brimming with creativity in every way, but no one can deny that Nicki has unforgettable style!

She told Interview magazine recently that "I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on [looks]. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.”

@VS Fashion Show

“To get away from all their fighting, I would imagine being a new person. "Cookie" was my first identity—that stayed with me for a while. I went on to "Harajuku Barbie", then "Nicki Minaj". Fantasy was my reality. I must have been such a fucking annoying little girl.” 

In an interview with Vibe she commented, "I just embrace all people of all lifestyles and I don’t tell them they are bad people. And I say girls are beautiful and girls are sexy and they need to be told that, and if they don’t have anyone to tell them that and mean it, I’m gonna tell them that. But I feel like people always wanna define me and I don’t wanna be defined." She reiterated her dislike of being labeled in an interview with OUT, saying: "The point is, everyone is not black and white. There are so many shades in the middle, and you’ve got to let people feel comfortable with saying what they want to say when they want to say it."