Onika Tanya Maraj was born on December 8th, 1982 in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago. She grew up in her grandmother's house with eleven cousins.
Since 2007, she started releasing her mixtapes. She released 'Playtime Is Over', her first mixtape. Then on she released 'Sucka Free' and 'Beam Up Scooty'. In 2008, she won 'Female Rapper Of The Year' at Underground Music Awards. Nicki also appeared on XXL Magazine in 2009.
Lil Wayne spotted Nicki and she signed a deal with his label 'Young Money Entertainment'. She release the chartbuster debut album 'Pink Friday', which peaked at No.1 on Billboard 200 winning 'Best New Artist Award' at AMAs
The main source of income for her is tours, album sales, and endorsements. Her debut album sold over 1.9 million copies across U.S. and 'Pink Friday; Roman Reloaded sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide. She collaborated with MAC cosmetics for a lipstick to promote her album