Nicki Minaj E! Special

[Stephan Bobb]

Nicki Minaj E! Special

Article written by: Andre Sanchez
Posted on: July 19, 2011

On July 13th, one of the hottest stars in Hip Hop had a special moment on television; her life story told for the first time. From her humble beginnings in Trinidad to a budding actor to her decision to pursue a rap career, Nicki Minaj has always hustled to find where she belongs in this world. She eventually found a home with Lil Wayne’s Young Money record label. Since then, she has found unprecedented success in the rap game, with co-signs from tons of rappers in the industry, as well as criticism from veterans such as Lil’ Kim (read here about Lil Kim’s ‘Black Friday‘ release aimed at Minaj).

Still, all this attention only led to awards and performances/tours with Britney Spears and fellow labelmate Drake, and stand out features with the likes of Trey Songz, Ludacris, Keyshia Cole, and many more. You can watch the E! special here, and the official bio is as follows –

Born as Onika Tanya Minaj in Trinidad on December 8th, 1984, the star grew up surrounded by a lot of relatives. In 1989, Minaj moved to America to join her parents who had been living there.

Soon after, Minaj’s father suffered personal issues and Nicki wanted to get away from the reality. She says she was “off in fantasy land a lot” and that she “still finds pleasure in that place.” Nicki’s mother would take her to church and gave her encouraging words.

It was in fifth grade that Minaj realized she wanted to be an entertainer. Her teacher would put on plays that Minaj would perform in and they both became very close. Minaj shared that this teacher, Ms. Smith, changed her life.

Minaj was accepted into the drama program at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. She quickly got a reputation for being loud, friendly and a little intimidating. Nicki started experimenting with rapping and would free-style often about everyday things.

Once she graduated, Nicki started waitressing and tried to get to her own place. In 2001, she got her first break when she was cast in an off Broadway play called In Case You Forget. But after not getting other auditions, her passion for acting faded.

Nicki realized that what she really wanted to do was rap. She spent a lot of time writing and listening to music, and production companies worked with her to make a demo. She was recruited by a local act and got a chance to work on her solo act. After not being able to get a record deal, Nicki looked for opportunities on her own.

Something that helped to expose Nicki and her music was the creation of her MySpace page. Fans would come out to see her after seeing her music online.  After being featured in a couple of DVDs, Lil Wayne became familiar with Nicki’s music and knew he wanted to sign her.

Minaj moved to Atlanta and she gained more fans. She started doing three to four shows a week and met new representatives. In August 2009, Minaj officially signed to Young Money Records with Lil Wayne.

Nicki eventually headed to the west coast to Los Angeles to keep working on her music and started working on her album. Nicki Minaj continues to reinvent herself as one of the few successful female rappers. She has broken the mold of what an artist should be.

Some may disagree with Nicki’s odd sense of style and her quirky personality but now that we know Nicki has gone through a rough time to get to where she is we’re even more on board with this artist.

Sojones gives the E! special a 5 star rating for being as entertaining as the many personas Minaj creates behind the microphone. We’re ready for the next album, Nicki!