Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1984), better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a rapper and singer-songwriter from New York City. Born in Trinidad, Minaj moved to the Queens borough of New York City as a child and graduated from LaGuardia High School in 2003.She released her first mixtape Playtime Is Over in 2007, which was followed by Sucka Free and Beam Me Up Scotty in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Minaj was discovered by fellow American rapper Lil Wayne and signed a deal to Young Money Entertainment with distribution from Universal Motown in August 2009.Her debut studio album Pink Friday (2010) became a commercial success, peaking atop of the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release.She became the first artist ever to have seven songs within the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time.Her second single, "Your Love", reached number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List.Nicki Minaj released her first mixtape in 2007 after releasing Playtime Is Over with Dirty Money Records. She later released another mixtape on July 7, 2008, titled Sucka Free, under the label of Be. On April 18, 2009, Minaj released a third mixtape and appeared in XXL magazine.In 2008 she won the Female Artist of the Year award at the Underground Music Awards. Minaj released Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, in April 2009 under the label of Trapaholics Records. Beam Me Up Scotty received positive coverage on both BET and MTVAfter being Minaj signed a succure record deal with Young Money Entertainment, it was confirmed that artist would unite as a rapping group, and Minaj would be present in the group. As a group they released the single "Every Girl", which charted at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single was confirmed to be "BedRock", the song became a commercial success charting at just below the top of the Billboard Hot 100 at number-two; on the song Minaj has a solo rap verse. Third single released from the album, "Roger That" which Minaj also appeared on as a Young Money artist. Despite the song gaining good reviews from critics, the song charted at number fifty-six. Many critics said that Minaj steals the spotlight. The group released the debut album, which featured all the Young Money artists on the front cover, including Minaj. We Are Young Money was released on December 21, 2009 the album charted in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 200, charting at number-nine and later received a Gold Certification by the RIAA.
