Must Haves. Music Edition. Nicki Minaj

BACKGROUND HISTORY

Active2000s - 2020s

BornDecember 8, 1982 in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago

Genre

Rap

Styles

Pop

Pop-Rap

Contemporary R&B

Hardcore Rap

HITS

Starships, Bang Bang, Super Bass, Anaconda, Mama, Hey Mamam, Beauty and a Beat,etc

ALBUMS

Beam Me Uo Scotty (2009), Pink Friday (2010), The Pinkprint (2014), Quenn (2018)

CULTURAL IMPACT

Nicki Minaj rose from mixtape sensation to pop star with a distinct blend of ferocity and wit, which she continues to display with razor-sharp wordplay, mercilessly blunt lyricism, and a vocal style that shifts from sugary to snarling. Her early days included attempts at acting and being fired from Red Lobster for being rude to customers, but she quickly progressed from MySpace demos to nationally adored mixtapes to household-name status. Pink Friday, Minaj's debut album, saw her appeal to a wider audience with chart-topping success.

Despite her achieved similar success with subsequent full-length albums such as 2014's The Pinkprint and 2018's Queen, her singles have had a far greater impact. In just over a decade, Minaj has charted over two dozen singles in the Top 40 as a headliner, including "Super Bass," "Starships," and "Anaconda." These and other highlights were compiled in 2022 for Queen Radio, Vol. 1, a compilation that included the number one hit "Super Freaky Girl" among its new songs. Her Top 40 features include Kanye West's "Monster," David Guetta's "Turn Me On," and Ariana Grande's "Side to Side."