20+ Facts About Nicki Minaj Nobody Tells You About

Whether you’re a Barb for life or just lurking from the sidelines, Nicki Minaj has been dominating the rap game for over a decade…and she didn’t earn the “Queen of Rap” crown by accident.

From Nicki’s badass lyrics, bust-ups with stars, to alter egos and that Anaconda moment, Nicki is legit pop culture royalty. But behind the wigs and bars is a story way deeper than pink Lambos and Versace catsuits. This popular star hasn’t always had it easy.

To find out more about her tough upbringing and how she became one of the best-selling female artists of all time, here are 23 Nicki Minaj facts you probably didn’t know.

Everything About Nicki Minaj — Answered In These Fun Facts

Fast facts about Nicki Minaj

• Nicki was born on December 8, 1982.
• She is 5’3″.
• Nicki is married to Kenneth Petty, and they share a son named Papa Bear.
• She has never won a Grammy.

1. Wait, Nicki’s Not American?

Nicki was born in St. James, Trinidad and Tobago and moved to Queens, NY, at age five. She’s of Afro-Trinidadian and Indo-Asian descent and actually doesn’t have American citizenship. “I was born on a beautiful island called Trinidad and Tobago,” she revealed during a TikTok Live session. “But I’ve been in the States for many years. You would think that with the millions of dollars that I’ve paid in taxes to this country that I would have been given an honorary citizenship many, many, many thousands of years ago,” the rapper added.

2. Who are Nicki Minaj’s Parents?

Nicki’s father, Robert Maraj (who died in 2021 from a hit-and-run car accident) was a financial executive and part-time gospel singer, while her mother, Carol is also a gospel singer, but worked in payroll and accounting. I guess the music roots run deep, even if Nicki took a slightly different path.

3. Was Her Childhood Really That Rough?

Yes. Nicki’s dad struggled with addiction and once set their house on fire—something she’s never hidden. In a 2012 Nightline clip [via BET], she admitted, “We were afraid for [my mother’s] life because whenever he would have a real bad outburst, he would threaten to kill her,” she said. “I felt a lot of anger. I wanted to kill him. I wished he was dead.”

That traumatic home life made Nicki vow she’d never suffer at the hands of a man: “Maybe some people would describe me as abrasive or bit*hy or whatever because I vowed from that age no man would ever abuse me, call me out my name, treat me like that,” she said on her Queen documentary.

4. What’s the Deal with Her Brother?

This isn’t exactly the most ‘fun’ fact about Nicki Minaj. In 2017, Nicki’s, 38-year-old brother Jelani Maraj (photo: far right) was found guilty of predatory sexual assault on an 11 year-old girl and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Although Nicki reportedly visited her brother with her mother after the guilty verdict, she hasn’t spoken about the matter, publicly.

5. When Did Nicki Become a Rapper?

Nicki has been in the rap game for some time! She began rapping professionally in 2007 by releasing mixtapes (Playtime Is Over, Sucka Free, and Beam Me Up Scotty). But she actually wrote her first rap at just 12 when she realized she had bars to drop. She was already singing in the church choir, taking drama classes, and then she started penning rhymes. Nicki hilariously described her first rap as “the most horrible thing.” Check it out below:

6. Has Nicki Minaj Ever Acted?

It might be hard to imagine, but Nicki Minaj was a stage-girl long before her career as a rapper. She studied drama at LaGuardia High School and, in 2001, landed a role in In Case You Forget, an off‑Broadway production. In fact, you can catch her acting skills in movies like The Other Woman and Barbershop: The Next Cut.

7. Why Did She Get Fired from Red Lobster?

Before blowing up, Nicki worked at Red Lobster, and yes, she got fired for being rude and flipping off a customer after a spat over a pen. Nicki laughs about it now, saying she’s lost jobs from three or four Red Lobster restaurants. “One day, this lady came in with her boyfriend, and they needed my pen to sign the credit card slip. I went back to the table, and not only did they not leave me a tip, but they took my pen! That set me off for some reason,” Minaj explained.

“I ran outside into the parking lot, and caught them just as they were turning out. I banged on their window and said, ‘Give me my pen!,’ and I banged on their window hard enough to break it. Then they told on me and I got fired.”

8. Was Nicki Minaj in a Group?

Swapping theatre for music, Nicki joined the band, The Hoodstars, a 2004 rap group (which also featured her ex-boyfriend Safaree Samuels). They scored a track (Don’t Mess With) picked up by WWE Diva Victoria’s entrance music. Eventually, after several mixtapes, Lil Wayne noticed her and signed her to Young Money in 2009. From group girl to Young Money queen: that’s how Nicki became the main character in her own Barbie Dreams era.

9. Has Nicki Minaj Had Surgery on Her Face?

With her perfect chiseled features and cute nose, it’s easy to assume Minaj has been under the knife a few times. And although a nose job or a facelift may seem obvious, the rapper did shut down all plastic surgery rumors in a 2013 Extra interview, saying, “I never had surgery on my face. When people see my makeup they think all types of crazy things that I’m doing to my skin, but it’s makeup.”

10. But What About Her Butt?

One thing about Nicki? She’s gonna be open about getting work done to her butt. Explaining how she never used to feel “complete or good enough,” the rapper told Joe Budden during a podcast in 2022 that she received illegal butt injections after feeling pressure from the likes of Lil’ Wayne during her rise to fame. “I think they said stuff sometimes jokingly. But to a young girl or up and coming rapper or anything, when it’s from someone like Lil’ Wayne, it matters. You know?” Minaj said. 

11. Did Nicki Get an Abortion?

In 2014, Nicki got real about her teenage abortion in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying she thought she “was going to die.” She told the outlet, “I was a teenager. It was the hardest thing I’d ever gone through… It’d be contradictory if I said I wasn’t pro‑choice. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t have anything to offer a child.” In fact, Nicki also touched on the abortion in her song All Things Go, rapping, “My child with Aaron would have been 16, any minute.”

12. Are Nicki Minaj and Cardi B Still Friends?

I mean, we shouldn’t be quick to assume, but short answer: nope. Nicki and Cardi have been throwing subliminals since their infamous 2018 fashion week fight when Cardi allegedly threw a shoe at Nicki. And recently, cryptic X-posts sparked fresh feud talk: Nicki wrote on X, “Spotify charts looking scary,” and Cardi posted, “Shut the f**k up,” right about the same time, which made fans assume they were beefing again. Translation? Cardi’s probably still got beef with Nicki, but it’s all very lowkey right now.

13. What Records has Nicki Minaj Broken?

To start with, Nicki’s 2014 Anaconda music video exploded on release, rack­ing up 19.6 million views in 24 hours, breaking Vevo’s then-record (previously held by Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball). It later became the first female rap solo video to hit 1 billion views on YouTube. She became the first female rapper with multiple diamond-certified solo songs (yup, Starships still eats). On top of that, her Pink Friday 2 tour officially made her the highest-grossing touring female rapper ever. And if that wasn’t enough, Nicki also holds the crown for the most Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles among women in rap. Queen behavior only.

14. Did Nicki Minaj and Drake Ever Date?

Their connection was real, but the label? Untouched. Drake once called Nicki “the love of my life” during his 2017 Billboard Music Award acceptance speech, but no official couple status followed. They’ve played the friendzone game publicly with intense chemistry, but zero clarity, always fueling Barb speculation on whether it was friendship or something more. But then Drizzy kinda confirmed their relationship status by telling Ellen DeGeneres, “Me and Nicki are like family. I just love Nicki with all my heart. We haven’t really shared, like, intimate moments.”

15. What’s Her Favorite Food?

Ditch the caviar, she’s all about the chicken wings! Nicki once revealed that her favorite thing to eat are *spicy*, *fried* wings to be exact. Oh and they need to be delivered on “silverware,” too. “Nicki needs three 12-piece buckets of spicy fried chicken, no thighs, lots of wings, and likes to devour them with a set of fine silverware,” according to Wonderland magazine (via ABC News).

Her love for the comfort food is so real, she once shared a hilarious clip instructing fans how to properly eat a wing, and even made chicken wing necklaces a thing.

16. Does She Support Trump?

Although Nicki has previously criticized Trump over his immigration policies, she recently praised the Trump administration by thanking him for defending Christians in Nigeria. She also reposted a Truth Social post by Trump about “Christianity facing an existential threat in Nigeria.” That said, no formal endorsement yet. I guess she’s mixing activism and politics in true Barb-style.

17. Who is Nicki Minaj’s Idol?

While most people were a fan of Andy Sachs in the Devil Wears Prada, Nicki much preferred Miranda Priestly. “Meryl Streep is one of my favorite artists of all time. She blows me away in just about everything she does,” the rapstress told Billboard. “I love how she can go from The Devil Wears Prada to The Iron Lady — she’s so incredible in that. My dream would be to have that type of acting career, where I can do both things believably.” In fact, here’s her impression of Meryl’s Priestly:

18. Why Did Nicki Minaj Change her Name?

The rapper’s real name is actually ‘Onika Tanya Maraj.’ Although at the start of her music career, the Barbie Dreams star used the stage name, ‘Nicki Maraj,’ she later changed it to ‘Nicki Minaj.’ Why? She wanted a rebrand. Nicki has said the name change came after Fendi, the CEO of Dirty Money, convinced her to switch it up. “He said I had such a nasty flow, I needed a nasty name,” she said in an early interview.

19. What Happened Between Nicki and Jay-Z?

Nicki recently called out Jay-Z over money from the 2021 Tidal deal. She says she was only paid $1 million for her 3% stake, but believes she’s actually owed around $200 million. Nicki described it as a “karmic debt” and even said she’d use the payout to help Barbz crush their student loans through her #StudentOfTheGame fund. Jay hasn’t addressed the claims yet, but I am forever watching.

20. Does Nicki Have Any Tattoos?

Nicki Minaj actually has two tattoos. The first is her most famous: six Chinese characters on her left arm that mean “God is always with you.” She got it as a teenager, though she’s admitted she kind of regrets the timing and placement. The second is way more on-brand: the word “Barbie” inked on her wrist, nodding to her alter ego and the Barbz movement.

SEE ALSO:
20 Worst Celebrity Tattoos Of All Time

21. How Rich Is She?

Sis is booked and banked! Nicki has a whooping net worth of $190 million (as of 2025), according to CEO Today. Not to mention she is literally the richest female rapper ever. Nicki’s wealth isn’t just a a result of her hit music, she also earns money from other projects like her stint as a judge on American Idol, a fragrance line, and starring in several movies.

22. Is Nicki’s Husband Really a Felon?

Nicki’s relationships have always been the talk of the town, but when she married Kenneth Petty in 2019, fans were divided due to Kenneth’s complicated past. He was convicted of attempted rape at 16 and later served time for manslaughter. Nicki has defended her choice fiercely, even confronting fans saying, “He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship. But go awf Internet…Y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life. Thank you boo.”

Nicki Minaj is a walking headline, a cultural icon, and a queen in her own lane. Whether you love the bars, the beefs, or the boldness, there really is no one quite like her. Let us know any other unknown facts about Nicki in the comments below…

Originally published March 2019.

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