Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today, we're really
getting into the career and impact of a true
musical force, Oynika Tanya Mirage. You know
her, of course, as Nicki Minaj. Absolutely. And
we've got a lot to cover. We've pulled together
sources looking at everything from, well, her
incredibly challenging beginnings in Trinidad
and Queens, right through to her status now as,
frankly, a global music icon and businesswoman.
Yeah, our goal here is to go a bit deeper than
the usual headlines. We want to piece together
a really solid understanding of her legacy, you
know, what makes her artistry tick, how she built
this business empire, and the huge cultural mark
she's left on music. It's about decoding that
pink print. Exactly. And to really grasp the
Nicki Minaj phenomenon, you kind of have to start
at the beginning, understanding how that ambition,
that artistic complexity was forged in the first
place. Okay, so let's start there. The journey
kicks off in the Caribbean. Onika Tanya Mirage,
born December 8th, 1982, Port of Spain, Trinidad
and Tobago. A place known for vibrancy, but also,
well, some real turmoil in her early life. Yeah,
the sources we looked at paint a very tough picture.
Her father, Robert Mirage, he was a financial
executive, also sang gospel part -time, of Dougla
descent, but he struggled intensely with addiction,
alcohol. crack cocaine. Right. And critically,
this led to violence. He was described as abusive
towards her mother, Carol. It culminated in this
really awful incident in December 87 when he
actually set fire to their family home. Wow.
Yeah. I mean, that kind of early trauma. Yeah.
You can only imagine the impact that has on someone,
especially an artist developing their voice.
For sure. And during this first few years, she
wasn't even with her parents full time. She was
living in St. James with her grandmother. And
get this. Eleven cousins. Eleven. Wow. Yeah.
While her mother was in the U .S., just working
incredibly hard to get a green card. So that
sense of instability, maybe needing to carve
out her own space, starts really early. It seems
so. She eventually moved to South Jamaica, Queens,
when she was about five, to be with her parents
again. And it's interesting, she confirmed later
in 2018 and just recently in 2024 that she initially
came to the U .S. as an undocumented immigrant.
Even though her parents had become lawful permanent
residents by then. And she also mentioned. quite
recently, actually, that despite everything,
she's still not a naturalized U .S. citizen.
That's fascinating. So with all that chaos happening
externally, it kind of makes sense that performance
became an escape, right? She auditioned for LaGuardia
High School, the fame school, aiming to be an
actress. Right. But the path wasn't exactly smooth
after that. The sources really talk about the
grind. Before any kind of success, she was cycling
through jobs, fired from apparently At least
15 jobs. Yeah, mostly for, let's say, discourtesy
to customers. That famous Red Lobster job in
the Bronx is one of them. Right. I remember hearing
about that. She also did customer service, office
management, even worked on Wall Street for a
bit, just trying to make ends meet while figuring
things out. And that same persistence shows up
in her early music career. She started rapping
in the early 2000s, was part of a group called
Hood Stars for a couple of years. But there's
this really key moment before any major deal
happened. Yes. And this, I think, is crucial
for understanding her whole approach to business
later on. She was offered a record deal early,
but the label wanted her to use a ghostwriter.
And she refused. Flat out. Even though, as Brian
George from Full Force apparently noted, she
was broken hungry, she insisted she would always
write her own songs. This is foundational, isn't
it? Establishing that creative control right
from the jump, non -negotiable. She's a writer,
period. Exactly. It sets the tone for everything
that follows. Her discovery story is kind of
classic early internet uploading music to MySpace.
Right. Led to a short deal with Dirty Money Entertainment
in 2006, and that's apparently when Nicki Mirage
became Nicki Minaj. The label owner thought Minaj
fit her nasty flow. Okay, so the name itself
had that edge from the start, but the real artistic
foundation, you could argue, was built during
the mixtape era. Oh, absolutely. Playtime is
over in 07, Suckafree in 08, and... And then
Beam Me Up Scotty in 2009, that one actually
made it onto the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart.
So the industry was already noticing her before
Young Money. And how did that Young Money connection
happen? Lil Wayne saw her on this underground
rap DVD series, the come up volume Ellen, that
got his attention. And boom, she signed with
Young Money in late August 2009. Okay, this is
where we have to pause. The deal itself. She
secured her 360 rights. Can you break down why
that was such a massive, almost revolutionary
move for a new artist signing to a powerhouse
label like Young Money back then? It's absolutely
critical. So normally a 360 deal, which became
common, means the label puts up the money, invests
in the artist, right? But in return, they get
a piece of everything, not just record sales.
Touring, merch, endorsements, publishing, the
whole 360 degrees of the artist's income. So
the label controls or at least gets a cut of
the entire brand. Pretty much. But Nicki or her
team flipped that. By securing her 360 rights,
she kept control over all those other income
streams, the merchandise, the endorsements, the
touring money, the publishing. Young Money handled
the records, but she controlled the brand empire.
So right from the start, she wasn't just an artist
signing a deal. She was positioning herself as
a business owner. Precisely. It set her up for
incredible financial independence and control
down the line. Just a genius move, really. Okay,
so the business side is locked down, and then
her career just... takes off. 2010 was all about
the features, right? She was everywhere. She
absolutely was. She became, as one source controversially
put it at the time, the go -to girl for artists
who wanted to add some skank to their tracks
without sullying themselves. Basically, her name
on a track guaranteed buzz. And that translated
into chart history pretty fast. First female
solo artist ever to have seven singles on the
Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Yeah, it's
wild. That level of saturation before her own
debut album even dropped. Just incredible. momentum.
But was there one moment that shifted her from
hot feature artist to potential superstar in
the eyes of the industry? Without a doubt, it
was her verse on Kanye West's Monster. Ah, yes.
That verse is legendary. The critical reaction
was just unanimous, wasn't it? It really was
something else. Complex Magazine called it the
best rap verse of the previous five years. Sean
Fennessy at The Village Voice said it was the
moment that announced Minaj's brilliance to everyone.
Right. The consensus was clear. She was top tier
talent. She wasn't just a female rapper. She
was a rapper, period, who could hang with the
absolute best in the game. It kind of obliterated
those gender distinctions on the track. And didn't
Kanye himself almost cut it because it was too
good? Worried it would overshadow them. That's
the story, yeah. Which just speaks volumes about
the power she brought to that verse. It was a
massive statement. And it set things up perfectly
for Pink Friday, her debut album, in late 2010.
And Pink Friday was huge commercially. Number
one debut on the Billboard 200, biggest sales
week for a female rap album this century, only
behind Lauryn Hill's classic. Yeah, Miseducation.
And Pink Friday had legs, too. First solo female
rap album to go platinum in seven years, ended
up triple platinum by 2016. And a big part of
that was Super Bass. Right. That song was everywhere.
Super Bass was massive. A bit of a sleeper hit
initially, but it just kept growing. Peaked at
number three on the Hot 100. And get this, as
of 2024, it's certified 12 times platinum by
the RIAA. 12 times. Yep, that makes it the highest
certified song by a female rapper in RIAA history.
Just shows its incredible staying power. But
that success almost immediately brought conflict,
didn't it? The feud with Lil' Kim kicked off
around then. The track Roman's Revenge, which
featured Eminem as Slim Shady, was widely seen
as Nicki firing back at Kim's claims that she
was copying her style, her image. Right, the
alter egos going at it. Exactly. And Kim hit
back hard with her Black Friday mixtape. The
cover art literally showed her decapitating Nicki.
Oh. Intense. And Nicki's response, lyrically,
was just as cutting. That line about Kim having
to sell your album on PayPal, it showed that
these feuds weren't just about lyrics. They were
often about business, status, financial success,
too. That became a recurring theme. So that intensity
carries over into the next era, 2012 -2013, with
Pink Friday, Roman Reloaded. This is often called
her big pop crossover album. It definitely was
a conscious shift. She leaned heavily into dance
pop, electropop sounds. And commercially, it
worked like gangbusters, debuted at number one
again, eventually went quadruple platinum. Right.
And Starships, the big single from that, was
Diamond certified. Fifth best -selling single
in the world in 2012. Huge numbers. But that
pop move caused some friction, didn't it? Within
the hip -hop community specifically. Oh, yeah.
Big time. You had figures like Peter Rosenberg
at Hot 97 publicly dismissing Starships On Air,
saying it wasn't real hip hop. Right. I remember
that controversy. Yeah. Led to Lil Wayne pulling
her from Summer Jam that year. Exactly. So that
tension balancing massive mainstream pop success
with quote unquote hip hop authenticity really
defined that period for her. But she wasn't exactly
avoiding controversy elsewhere either. That very
theatrical exorcism themed performance of Roman
Holiday at the 2012 Grammys. That definitely
raised some eyebrows. The American Catholic League
was not happy about that one. And then she expanded
her visibility even more, voicing a character
in Ice Age, joining American Idol as a judge.
Right, alongside Mariah Carey. And those on -set
clashes became huge news, driving ratings through
the roof. She was constantly in the spotlight.
So after that big pop moment, we get to the pink
print era, 2014 to 2017. And the narrative here
was very much about her returning to her hip
-hop roots, getting more personal. Yeah, it felt
like a recalibration. And she managed to balance
it really well. Anaconda was the huge viral moment
from this album. Oh, yeah. That video broke the
Internet. Totally. Broke the Vivo 24 -hour review
record at the time, like 19 .6 million views
first day. Peaked at number two on the charts,
her highest solo spot up to that point. But there
was another big collaboration around then that
maybe gets overlooked sometimes. Bang, bang.
With Jessie J and Ariana Grande. Bang Bang was
huge and its long -term impact is significant.
Just in 2024, it got diamond certification. Wow.
And that made it the first all -female collaboration
in history to hit that diamond mark. That's a
massive milestone for all three of them and for
female collaborations in general. Incredible.
But of course, the cycle of success and conflict
continues. 2017 brought the Remy Moss situation.
Ah, yes. Shether. That was a blistering diss
track from Rummy Ma. And it brought back some
old damaging rumors specifically that Nikki used
ghostwriters and that she was actually in a 360
deal despite what she'd claimed. So how did Nikki
respond to those specific business allegations?
Her response track, No Frauds, featuring Drake
and Lil Wayne, came quick. And she addressed
those points head on. There's that specific line
everyone pointed to. I never signed a 360, bitch,
you wild dumb. Very. It wasn't just a rap battle.
It was her publicly defending her business integrity
and her creative authorship again, reinforcing
that narrative. She writes her own rhyme. She
controls her own business. And all this consistent
success year after year culminated in another
major chart record in March 2017. Right. She
officially surpassed Aretha Franklin for the
most entries ever by a female artist on the Billboard
Hot 100. That was a huge moment, statistically
cementing her dominance over the long haul. Okay,
so we've charted the commercial rise, the hits,
the feuds. Let's dig into the how. What actually
makes her musical style so distinctive? Well,
the sources use words like nimble, animated,
witty, intricate. Her flow is incredibly dynamic.
She plays with speed, cadence, often switching
things up dramatically mid -verse. And the accents,
the different voices. The British Cockney one
is probably the most famous. How important are
those vocal shifts to her technique? Oh, they're
absolutely central. She's talked about rapping
being like both an art and a sport for her. She'll
apparently spend hours revising lines, perfecting
the delivery. She likes keeping listeners guessing
you never quite know what Nicki you're going
to get. That shape -shifting, vocally, lets her
attack a beat or a topic from multiple angles.
It keeps her sound fresh. She's a master of vocal
texture and character. It's a versatility sense
to genre, too, right? She moves between hip -hop,
R &B, pop, electronic music. Effortlessly. And
more recently, she's folded in sounds like drill,
dancehall, afrobeats, even Jersey Club. She seems
determined to constantly evolve her sound, absorb
what's current. and make it her own. A true musical
chameleon. And a lot of that fluidity seems tied
to her use of alter egos. Can you talk about
where those came from? Yeah, it's fascinating.
The sources suggest characters like Cookie and
her Juku Barbie actually started as coping mechanisms
during her difficult childhood, escaping the
fighting between her parents. She literally said,
fantasy was my reality. So it starts as psychological
protection, then evolves into this really powerful
artistic tool, Roman Zelansky being the prime
example. Exactly. Roman is the most famous. Described
as her demon, a lunatic, sometimes a gay boy
living inside her, Roman allows her to channel
aggression, theatricality, dark humor, things
that might feel jarring coming directly from
Nicki Minaj. Which is why him teaming up with
Eminem Slim Shady on Roman's Revenge felt so
potent. Two dark alter egos colliding. Totally.
And then you have others like Martha, who is
Roman's very proper British mother. Nicki even
jokingly announced Martha had died of old age
in 20 - OK, but beyond the artistic expression,
is there a strategic element to using these personas,
especially in a male dominated genre like hip
hop? I think absolutely. It gives her distance,
control. If a lyric is particularly harsh or
maybe too pop or too experimental, she can kind
of attribute it to Roman or her Juku Barbie.
It lets her push boundaries, creative boundaries,
gender boundaries, while maintaining a slight
separation from her core Nicki brand. It's like
a strategic layer allowing for calculated risks.
Makes sense. And who are her big influences coming
up? She's always shouted out Lil Wayne, obviously.
Foxy Brown, she's called Foxy, the most influential
female rapper for her. Jay -Z, Biggie, Lauryn
Hill, too. You can hear bits of all of them,
but she synthesized it into something totally
unique. And her early image was just as unique
in boundary pushing, that whole Barbie aesthetic.
Oh, yeah. The crazy colorful wigs, the dramatic
makeup, the wild costumes. It was pure maximalism,
very theatrical. It made her instantly recognizable.
Barbie dolls were a huge part of that visual
identity. early on. But then around 2014, with
the pink print, she shifted, went for a much
more natural, softer look. Why the change? Well,
she said the goal was to shock them even more.
By stripping it back, it felt like another calculated
move. Once the shock value of the super theatrical
look had maybe peaked, she pivoted. It put the
focus back on her lyrics, her skill, proving
she didn't need the costumes to command attention,
a kind of strategic maturation of the brand image.
Interesting. And she's always been outspoken
about women's power speaking your mind, even
if she doesn't explicitly call herself a feminist.
Right. And she's been open about being pro -choice,
linking it back to her own difficult experience
having an abortion as a teenager, which she's
referenced in her music. That adds another layer
of personal depth. OK, let's circle back to that
business savvy securing the 360 rights early
on. Yeah. How did that control pave the way for
the massive brand portfolio she has now? It was
the foundation for everything else. Because she
controlled those auxiliary rights, she could
build this huge diversified business outside
of just music. Think about the fashion deals,
Emmett Cosmetics multiple times, Adidas, Roberto
Cavalli. Right. And don't forget, she's a co
-owner of Tidal, the streaming service that puts
her at the table with Jay -Z, Beyonce. actual
ownership in the music industry infrastructure.
And the fragrances. Yeah. That seems like a huge
revenue stream on its own. It's massive. Started
with Pink Friday in 2012, and she's launched,
what, nine more since then? Menagisty Queen.
That's consistent consumer product income, totally
separate from the ups and downs of album cycles
or touring. It's where the brand power converts
directly to shelf space and sales. And she keeps
launching new ventures. The heavy on it record
label imprint in 2023, partnering with Republic.
The Pink Friday nails line, vegan, cruelty free.
The low size sneaker collection. And importantly,
with things like Loshi, she's not just endorsing,
she's an investor and co -owner. That's another
level of business involvement. She's also tapped
into tech and gaming really effectively. The
mobile game back in 2016. Nicki Minaj. The Empire,
yeah. Yeah. And then more recently and significantly
becoming the first woman operator character in
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in 2023 as her
Red Ruby persona. That's huge reach into a massive
gaming audience. Absolutely. And then launching
the Gag City virtual world on Roblox tied directly
to the Pink Friday 2 aesthetic. She's just everywhere
leveraging her brand across all these different
platforms. It's a master class in multi -platform
brand building. So the last few years since around
2018. It feels like just one record broken after
another. Let's start with the sheer volume of
her chart presence. In 2018, she hit a major
milestone. Yeah, she became the first woman ever
to score 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. 100 songs. 100 songs. Just think about
that volume. It speaks to her own output, plus
the constant demand for her as a feature artist.
She was just dominating the charts quantitatively
more than icons like Aretha Franklin at that
point. And the chart peaks kept coming. 2020
was big. She finally got her first Billboard
Hot 100 number ones. Yeah. Both collaborations,
right? Correct. First was Say So with Oja Cat.
Notably, that was the first time a collaboration
between two female rappers had ever topped the
Hot 100. A landmark moment. Definitely. And then
right after that, Trolls with 6x9 also debuted
at number one. That made her the first female
rapper since Lauryn Hill way back in 98 to have
a song debut at the top spot. Just shows the
immense anticipation and buying power she commands.
Then fast forward to 2022, and she achieved something
she hadn't quite managed. before. A solo number
one single in the U .S. Super Freaky Girl, sampling
Rick James, of course. And that song also made
history first solo track by a female rapper to
debut at number one in the U .S. this century.
Huge commercial win. But it immediately sparked
a pretty major controversy involving the Grammy
Awards. Right. She was very vocal, very public
about her frustration when the Grammys moved
Super Freaky Girl out of the rap categories and
into pop for consideration. What was her argument
against that move? because it obviously felt
like a snub to her well her point was basically
about consistency and well fairness she argued
the song built on a classic funk sample delivered
entirely through rap verses should be considered
rap her claim publicly was that this was part
of a bigger corporate agenda essentially manipulating
categories to maybe favor newer artists over
established veterans like herself And how did
she argue it was unfair specifically? She pointed
to other songs like Lotto's Big Energy, which
had a similar pop -leaning vibe, same producer
even, but that song stayed in the rap category.
Her argument was... If Super Freaky Girl is pop
because it's huge and has crossover appeal, then
shouldn't all similar songs be treated the same
way? She was calling for consistency in how genres
are defined and policed, especially in this streaming
era where genre lines are blurrier than ever.
It highlighted that ongoing issue of datekeeping
in the industry. Gotcha. Okay, so moving to late
2023, the momentum just keeps building with Pink
Friday 2, another number one album debut. And
that album locked down another massive record.
It made her the female rapper with the most U
.S. number one albums in history. Three number
ones. That's undisputed. Wow. Plus, it broke
records for first week vinyl sales for a female
rap album and had the biggest single day global
streams for a female hip hop album on Spotify.
The demand clearly is still Absolutely enormous.
And if you connect that success right back to
her early business decisions controlling those
360 rights, the Pink Friday 2 World Tour in 2024
seems like the ultimate payoff. It really is
the financial peak so far. Just shows the incredible
ROI from controlling her own touring. That tour
became the highest grossing tour by a female
rapper ever. Pulled in over $108 million from
just the first 70 shows. That's staggering. It
puts her up there as the fourth highest grossing
tour by any rapper or hip hop. artists period
competing with the absolute biggest names in
the genre financially just monumental Beyond
the sales and tours, though, we have to talk
about her impact on the industry's plumbing,
basically. She was really vocal early on about
getting streaming counted towards sales and certifications.
Yes. This might be one of her most lasting behind
-the -scenes legacies. Before 2016, streams often
didn't fully count towards gold and platinum
status. She argued forcefully that in the digital
age, streams are consumption, they are success,
and they need to be reflected in the official
numbers. And that push actually worked. the RIA,
changing its rules in 2016 to fully integrate
audio and video streams into certifications.
So essentially, every artist who's benefited
from streaming numbers helping them go gold or
platinum since then owes her, in part, for advocating
for that change. That's a fundamental shift,
and her influence is just undeniable when you
look at the artists who came after her. Oh, the
list is huge. Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion,
Ice Spice, Lil Nas X, Lotto. So many artists
across genres point to her as an inspiration.
or influence, she really did provide a kind of
pink print for a generation of female artists
navigating the industry. Which is why Billboard
and Vibe, officially naming her the greatest
female rapper of all time in 2023, felt significant.
The numbers back it up to over 100 million records
sold, most number ones on the R &B hip -hop chart
for a female artist. Her dominance is just a
historical fact at this point. Now, with that
level of fame comes intense scrutiny. Nicki Minaj
has one of the most passionate, engaged fan bases,
but also one of the most scrutinized public profiles.
Her social media presence is enormous. Yeah.
Most followed Roper on Instagram first to hit
200 million, now over 227 million followers.
That direct line to her fans, the Barbz, is incredibly
powerful. But it's a double edged sword, as you
said. That loyalty can sometimes manifest in
negative ways. Exactly. The sources do mention
that some segments of her fan base have been.
known to be extremely aggressive towards critics'
reports of doxing, cyberbullying, even threats.
Managing that intense fan energy is definitely
part of her modern reality. And her public life
has certainly had its share of high -profile
conflicts. That incident with Cardi B at New
York Fashion Week in 2018. Oh yeah, the shoe
-throwing incident. That was everywhere. A real
media frenzy. And it's interesting how she responds
even in conflict. After that, she specifically
went online to deny rumors she liked negative
comments about Cardi's child, saying she'd never
speak ill of anyone's child, drawing lines even
amidst the drama. Right, which makes it important
to also talk about the side of her career that
gets much less attention, her philanthropy. Absolutely.
Because there's quite a bit there, isn't there?
There is. Sources detail her funding projects
in a village in India for years, water wells,
a computer center, things like that. She donated
$25 ,000 to the Red Cross after Hurricane Harvey.
And didn't she offer to pay tuition for some
fans on Twitter once? Yeah, back in 2017, offered
to cover college tuition or student loans for
about 30 fans who showed proof. A really direct
way of giving back. That's incredible. And it
connects back to her own story, too. In 2020,
she gave $25 ,000 to St. Jude's Home for Girls
back in Trinidad. And in her speech there, she
talked about her own experience with domestic
violence, trying to encourage the girls. It shows
that connection between her past and her wanting
to help now. She's also taken stands on bigger
issues, pulling out of that Saudi Arabia concert
in 2019. Right. After activists raised concerns,
she released a statement supporting women's rights,
LGBTQ rights, freedom of expression. using her
platform in that way. Okay, and finally, just
for a complete picture, we need to touch on some
of the personal and legal contacts around her
life recently. There was the tragic death of
her father. Yeah, Robert Mirage died in a hit
-and -run accident back in 2021. Just awful.
And her marriage to Kenneth Petty in 2019. They
have a son, Papa Bear, born in 2020. But Petty's
past legal issues have brought a lot of scrutiny.
Specifically, his 1995 conviction for attempted
rape when he was a teenager. That history led
to legal trouble when he didn't register as a
sex offender correctly after moving to California.
And that resulted in a civil lawsuit from the
original accuser, Jennifer Hugh, against both
him and Nikki. Yes, alleging harassment and intimidation
related to the old case. It's important to be
clear here. The lawsuit against Nikki herself
was later voluntarily dropped by Hugh. And Nikki
has always strongly denied any harassment or
offering money. Right. And then just very recently,
that incident in Amsterdam, being detained briefly
for marijuana found in her luggage before a show.
Yeah, resulted in a fine. She was released the
same day. But it just underscores, again, the
constant intense spotlight she lives under. Every
move is magnified. It really is an incredible
arc, though. When you map it all out, overcoming
that incredibly rough childhood, strategically
building this empire of creative and business
control, starting with that 360 deal. And ending
up with this multi -platform global brand, number
one albums, record -breaking tours, hundreds
of millions in earnings. Her journey just perfectly
illustrates that blend of raw performance talent
and sharp strategic power. Most number one albums
for a female rapper, diamond songs, highest grossing
tour, the artistry, the ambition, the business
side, it all defines modern superstardom. Yeah.
And sustaining that level of impact for, what,
15 plus years now in this industry, that's what
really cements the legacy, I think. So when we
boil down this deep dive, look at the pink print.
What's at the core of her genius? You know, her
success seems so tied to her ability to reinvent
herself, to use these different personas, Harjuku
Barbie, Queen Sleaze, Roman. So it leaves you
wondering, right? Is that use of alter egos primarily
an artistic necessity for her, something that
lets her push creative limits? Nor. Or was it,
maybe from the very start, a really smart strategic
business move, a way to navigate, control her
image, her narrative, in an industry that wasn't,
and often still isn't, built for women, especially
black women, to hold that kind of power? It's
a great question. And the fascinating thing about
her career is the answer might just be yes to
both. The art fuels the business. The business
protects the art. Her legacy is kind of wrapped
up in that ongoing question. Where does one end
and the other begin? Definitely something for
you to think about next time you hear a Nicki
Minaj track.