Onika Tanya Maraj was born on December 8, 1982,^[4][5] in the Saint James district of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.^[6][7] Her father was Robert Maraj (1956–2021),^[8] a financial executive and part-time gospel singer of Dougla (Afro-Trinidadian mother and Indo-Trinidadian father) descent.^[5] Her mother, Carol, is also a gospel singer with Afro-Trinidadian ancestry.^[9] Carol worked in payroll and accounting departments during Minaj's youth.^[10][11] Minaj's father was an alcoholic and crack cocaine addict^[12] whom Minaj described to be "violent" and abusive to her mother. He committed arson onto their house in December 1987.^[13][14] She has an older brother named Jelani,^[15] a younger brother named Micaiah,^[16] and a younger sister named Ming.^[17]

As a child, Minaj and Jelani grew up with their grandmother in Saint James in a household with 11 cousins.^[14] Carol was working numerous jobs in Saint James before getting her green card at the age of 24. She then moved to the Bronx in New York to attend Monroe College, leaving both Minaj and Jelani in Trinidad with their grandmother. Eventually, when Minaj was five, Carol got her first house, on 147th Street in South Jamaica, Queens and brought both Minaj and Jelani to live with her and their father.^[14] Minaj said she came to the United States as an illegal immigrant, although by the time she moved to the United States her mother and subsequently her father had lawful permanent residency.^[18] She revealed in 2024 that she is not a US citizen: "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 [years] ago."^[19][20] Minaj recalled, "I don't think I had a lot of discipline in my household. My mom motivated me, but it wasn't a strict household. I kind of wanted a strict household."^[21] Minaj successfully auditioned for admission to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, which focuses on visual and performing arts.^[6] After graduation, Minaj wanted to become an actress, and she was cast in the Off-Broadway play In Case You Forget in 2001.^[22]

At the age of 19, as she struggled with her acting career, she worked as a waitress at a Red Lobsterin the Bronx, but was fired for discourtesy to customers.^[23] She said she was fired from "at least 15 jobs" for similar reasons.^[24] Other jobs included customer service representative and office management on Wall Street. Minaj recalls buying a BMW as a 19-year-old with the money from waitressing.^[25]

Minaj briefly signed with Brooklyn group Full Force, in which she rapped in a quartet called the Hoodstars composed of Lou$tar (son of "Bowlegged Lou"), Safaree Samuels (Scaff Beezy) and 7even Up.^[26][27] In 2004, the group recorded the entrance song for WWE DivaVictoria, "Don't Mess With", which was featured on the compilation album ThemeAddict: WWE The Music, Vol.6. Minaj later left Full Force and uploaded songs on her Myspace profile, sending several of her songs to people in the music industry. Later, Fendi, CEO of Brooklyn label Dirty Money Entertainment, signed Minaj to his label in 2007 under a 180-day contract.^[28] Originally adopting the stage name Nicki Maraj, she eventually changed it to Nicki Minaj stating that "my real name is Maraj. Fendi flipped it when he met me because I had such a nasty flow!"^[29]

Minaj released her first mixtape, Playtime Is Over, on July 5, 2007,^[30] and her second, Sucka Free, on April 12, 2008.^[31] She released her third mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, on April 18, 2009;^[32] it received favorable coverage on BET and MTV.^[33][34] At the time, she was managed by Debra Antney. One of its tracks, "I Get Crazy", reached number 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart and number 37 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[35] After Minaj was discovered by fellow rapper Lil Wayne,^[36] she signed a recording contract with his Young Money Entertainment.^[37] That November, she appeared with Gucci Mane and Trina on the remix of "5 Star Bitch" by Yo Gotti.^[38]

In early February 2010, Minaj made her first two appearances on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with her features on "Knockout" and "Up Out My Face" by Lil Wayne and Mariah Carey respectively.^[39][40] Minaj also appeared on "BedRock" and "Roger That" on the compilation album, We Are Young Money (2009).^[41][42] The singles peaked at numbers two and 56, respectively, in the U.S. Their parent album reached number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA).^[43][44] At Jay-Z's suggestion, Robin Thicke featured Minaj on his single "Shakin' It 4 Daddy".^[45] Allison Stewart of The Washington Post stated that, during that time, she "became the go-to girl for artists who wanted to add some skank to their tracks without sullying themselves in the process".^[46] Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting in the U.S.^[47]

On March 29, 2010, Minaj released "Massive Attack" featuring Sean Garrett.^[48] Intended as the lead single from her forthcoming debut album, Pink Friday, the song was dropped from the album due to poor commercial performance.^[49][50] The next single, "Your Love", later became the album's lead single.^[51] Released in June, it peaked at number 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Rap Songs chart.^[35] The rapper was then featured on Christina Aguilera's song "Woohoo", which reached number 46 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 79 on Billboard Hot 100.^[52][53][54] In September, Minaj released "Check It Out" with will.i.am and "Right Thru Me" as follow-up singles.^[55][56][57]

In October, Minaj was featured on Kanye West's "Monster", a posse cut with Jay-Z and Rick Rossfeaturing vocals from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Her verse received widespread acclaim with many critics regarding it as the best verse on that song. Complex rated Minaj's "Monster" verse as the number-one best rap verse in the past five years,^[58] while Sean Fennessey of The Village Voicestated that "Monster" was "the track that announced Minaj's "brilliance" to most people."^[59] Shortly after, she performed "Monster" with West and Jay-Z at Yankee Stadium, becoming the first ever female rapper to perform there. In November 2010, Minaj received her first Grammy Award nomination for her guest verse on Ludacris' song "My Chick Bad".^[60]

Pink Friday was released on November 19, 2010, debuting at number two and later reaching number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 375,000 copies.^[61][62] It had the largest sales week for a female rap album in the 21st century and second-highest sales week overall after Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill(1998). The album also became the female rap album with the most weeks in the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart at the time, with fourteen consecutive weeks in the region.^[63] Upon release, the album received generally positive reviews from critics.^[64] The song "Roman's Revenge", featuring Eminem, was interpreted as a response to rapper Lil' Kim's comments against Minaj,^[65] including her accusing Minaj of copying her image and that she had recorded a song called "Everywhere We Go" with Minaj but it was pulled from iTunes by Cash Money because it did not perform well.^[66] At the time, Minaj said that "Roman's Revenge" was not about a specific person, but about "everyone who has been in interviews talking", adding, "I’ve been quiet for such a long time and I’ve been the nice guy. I’ve been the person that gave everyone their props ... you can’t be a rapper and not speak on things being said about you".^[67] In a 2018 interview, she explained that she wrote the song after "a veteran got at me, and I hit them with 'Roman's Revenge' and then I kept on going."^[68]

Pink Friday was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in December 2010, for moving a million units in the United States, with it becoming the first album by a solo female rapper to go platinum in seven years.^[69][70] As of March 2016, it has been certified triple-platinum.^[71] In 2022, 1814; 210 years agothe album was included in Rolling Stone's list of "200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time" at number 31; the magazine stated that Pink Friday "proved you could own the charts without dialing back your confrontational individuality, and it set the table for a generation of artists."^[72] "Moment 4 Life" featuring Drakewas released as the four1814; 210 years agoth single from Pink Friday,^[73] on December 7, 2010. It reached number 13 on the Hot 100.^[74] Minaj performed "Right Thru Me" and "Moment 4 Life" as the musical guest on the January 29, 2011, episode of Saturday Night Live.^[75] In February 2011, Lil' Kim released the mixtape Black Fridayreferencing Minaj, including artwork that showed Lil' Kim decapitating Minaj with a sword and the lyrics "sweetie, you goin' on your 14th minute of fame" and "you a Lil' Kim wannabe". Lil' Kim sold the mixtape on PayPal.^[66] Minaj's track "Tragedy" was released online, featuring the lyrics "Pink Friday, Eminem, 8 Mile/ It must hurt to sell your album on PayPal."^[76]

"Super Bass" was released as Pink Friday's fifth single in April 2011.^[77] It became a sleeper hit and commercially successful, ultimately peaking at number three on the Hot 100.^[35] It was eventually certified 12-times platinum in the US, for selling 12 million units;^[78] it became the highest-certified song by a female rapper in RIAA history.^[79]"Super Bass" was the highest-charting solo single by a female rapper, at the time, since Missy Elliott's "Work It" in 2002. In 2017, Billboardranked it as the second-biggest US Hot 100 hit by a female rapper of all time (behind Iggy Azalea's "Fancy");^[80] and in 2024, ranked it as the biggest Hot 100 hit of Minaj's career.^[74] Its music video has over 1.1 billion views on YouTube as of September 2024.^{[81][82][non-primary source needed]}

Minaj was one of the opening acts on Britney Spears' 2011 Femme Fatale Tour.^[83] She and Kesha appeared on the remix of Spears' "Till the World Ends", which peaked at number three in the U.S.^[84] On August 7, 2011, Minaj experienced a wardrobe malfunction during a live performance on Good Morning America when she revealed her left nipple. Both ABC and Minaj apologized for the incident, with Minaj denying it was a publicity stunt.^[85][86] Minaj continued to perform at high-profile events throughout 2011 with Donatella Versace inviting her to perform with Prince for the introduction of a Versace collection for H&M. She also performed "Super Bass" at the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.^[87] In December 2011, Minaj was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album for Pink Friday.^[88] Also that year, she won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video for "Super Bass", marking her first VMAwin.^[89]