Nicki Minaj made a splash in the music industry with the launch of her rap career — and she has been taking the world by storm ever since.Born Onika Tanya Maraj in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Minaj moved to Queens, New York, at the age of 5 with her family.
She went on to graduate from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in Manhattan, where she developed a love for performing arts.After rapping in a New York-based quartet called The Hoodstars, Minaj decided to make a name for herself, and she did just that with the release of her first mixtape, Playtime Is Over, in July 2007.
She dropped two more tapes in April 2008 and April 2009, Sucka Free and Beam Me Up Scotty, the latter of which caught the attention of Lil Wayne.
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