Nicki Minaj Research Paper

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Everyone knows Onika Tanya Maraj as the rap artist Nicki Minaj, but what many people do not know is her tough childhood and how she became who she is today. Born December 8, 1984 in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, she was raised in Southside Jamaica, Queens, New York. She grew up in a troubled home, with a father on drugs and a struggling single mother. At one point, her father set fire to the family’s home in a failed attempt to kill Nicki’s mother. Those early struggles, Minaj has said, helped fuel her drive to rise above the life her parents knew. “I have always had this female empowerment thing in the back of my mind,” she told Details Magazine, “because I wanted my mother to be stronger, and she could not be. I thought if I’m successful,…show more content…
Her name Nicki Minaj originates from her real last name Maraj, Nicki boasts she started calling herself Minaj because she started “eating chicks,” with her vicious rap skills. Nicki creates different personas for herself that will allow her to be a new person. An early incarnation was someone she called “Cookie,” then came “Harajuku Barbie,” before finally settling on Nicki Minaj. For Nicki’s debut album she created another alter- ego named “Roman Zolanski.” She stated that in her songs like ‘Bottoms Up” with Trey Songz it is not Nicki rapping, but instead Roman Zolanski. In songs such as “All I do is win (remix)” it is Nicki rapping. Nicki also stated that on her debut album, fans will get to meet Nicki, Roman and Onika. Nicki’s style is unlike no other rap artist. She obsessed with the color pink if you have not noticed. At a backstage interview at Good Morning America she told Sam Champion that, “Pink is a lifestyle. It makes me feel exhilarated, euphoric and free. It makes me feel unstoppable. When I see pink, it really does make me happy and brightens up my day.” And I totally agree. Another fashion statement Nicki makes is wearing wigs of different colors, sometimes multi- colored. She states that wigs are a way to express various persons onstage. “This is my Harajuku Barbie wig. When I have a bob, I feel like a little sophisticated ladybug,” she says. “And it takes some umph to wear

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