40 things you didn’t know about Nicki Minaj! (List)

Read them here!

1. Her full name is Onika Tanya Maraj, she adopted Nicki Minaj as a stage name.

2. She’s admitted to having a hard upbringing, as her father was an abusive drug addict who tried to kill her mother by setting fire to their house.

3. Her favourite colour is pink.

4. She used to rap in a quartet called ‘The Hoodstars’.

5. She named some of her biggest musical influences as Missy Elliot, Lil Kim, Jay Z and Lil’ Wayne.

6. In 2008, she was awarded with Female Artist Of The Year at the Underground Music Awards.

7. Despite having a rough time, it was her upbringing that made her “seek out and practice self-discipline”.

8. She was born in St James, Trinidad and Tobago on 8th December 1982.

9. Before she became Nicki Minaj she had nicknames including Cookie and Harajuki Barbie.

10. She was discovered by Lil’ Wayne and signed to his record label Young Money Entertainment in 2009.

11. She was fired from her waitress job at Red Lobster in the Bronx because of her discourtesy to customers.

12. She was brought up by her grandmother when she was younger.

13. She was the first female singer to top Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs Chart since 2002.

14. When she was 5 years old, she moved to Queens, New York with her mother.

15. She has a tattoo on her left arm which says “God Is With Me Always in Chinese”.

16. She has a very unique style, but names Betsy Johnson as one of her biggest fashion inspirations.

17. She’s a woman of many talents, and used to play the clarinet when she was in elementary school.

18. She has collaborated with cosmetic brands MAC and OPI to launch her own range of products.

19. She is the world’s most-followed rapper on Twitter, and was listed as the fourth most active musician on Social Media by Billboard in 2011.

20. Her career ambition was to be an actress, and managed to bag herself a role in the Off-Broadway play “In Case You Forget” in 2001.

21. Nicki was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago.

22. She used to call herself Harajaku Barbie because girls on MySpace used to call themselves “something Barbie.”

23. In 2011, A Nicki Minaj inspired Barbie doll was released by Mattel.

24. She was the first ever female rap artist to perform at Yankee Stadium.

25. Her favourite stores to shop in are costume stores.

26. She is a self-confessed chocaholic, and her favourites are Kit Kat and Twix.

27. Nicki Minaj has been involved in promotions and endorsements with Pepsi, Nokia and Adidas.

28. Her favourite fruit is mango.

29. She kissed Madonna on her 29th birthday.

30. She regrets copying Lil’ Kim’s ‘Hardcore’ squat.

31. She has two brothers and one sister.

32. She’s always been focused on women’s empowerment because of the things her mother went through. Nicki told Details magazine, “I’ve always had this female empowerment thing in the back of my mind because I wanted my mother to be stronger, and she couldn’t be. I thought, ‘If I’m successful, I can change her life.'”

33. Nicki helped raise $250 million for AIDS in 2012. With the help of MAC Cosmetics, Nicki endorsed Viva Glam lipstick and 100% of the profits went to the MAC AIDS Fund.

34.  She hates the name “Nicki Minaj.” Regarding the origin of her suggestive stage name she told The Guardian: “Somebody changed my name. One of the first production deals I signed, the guy wanted my name to be Minaj and I fought him tooth and nail. But he convinced me. I’ve always hated it.”

35. Nicki is the first and only female rapper to appear on the Forbes Hip-Hop Cash Kings List. She clocked in at #4, earning $29 million in 2013.

36. The intro Nicki reads on Kanye’s ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ is an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s ‘Cinderella.’

37. Kanye West almost cut her verse from ‘Monster.’

38. Her influences include Jadakiss and Cyndi Lauper.

39. Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez have both sung Nicki’s ‘Super Bass.’

40. Nicki Minaj is the first solo female artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 Chart.