Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer, songwriter and voice actress best known for her debut album Pink Friday which featured one of her hit singles "Super Bass" and for her appearances with English YouTube stars and cousins Sophia Grace Brownlee and Rosie McClelland, mostly on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents. Minaj first gained recognition after releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009. Her debut album, Pink Friday (2010), topped the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Its fifth single, "Super Bass", reached number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified diamond by the RIAA. Minaj's follow-up album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012) explored dance-pop. The lead single, "Starships", peaked in the top five worldwide.
Her third album, The Pinkprint (2014) explored more personal topics and marked a return to her hip hop roots. Its second single, "Anaconda" peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and became the first music video by a solo female rapper to reach one billion views on YouTube. She released her fourth album, Queen, in 2018 and it spawned the U.S. top ten single "Chun-Li". In 2019, her collaboration with Karol G, "Tusa", became the longest-running number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100 chart. Minaj achieved her first two Hot 100 number-one singles in 2020, "Trollz" and "Say So" and her third with the lead single of her forthcoming fifth studio album, "Super Freaky Girl". It became the third solo song by a female rapper to debut at number one in the U.S. since 1998.
Referred to as the "Queen of Rap", Minaj is one of the best-selling music artists, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. Billboard ranked her as the top selling female rapper of the 2010s. She became the first female artist to have one hundred Billboard Hot 100 entries and has twenty-one top 10 hits on the Hot 100, the most for any female rapper. Her various accolades include eight American Music Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards (including the 2022 Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award), twelve BET Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, a Brit Award and three Guinness World Records. Outside of music, her film career has included voice roles in the animated films Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) as well as supporting roles in the films The Other Woman (2014) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016). In 2016, Time included her on their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Throughout her career, Minaj's outspoken views and social media disputes have received significant media coverage.
She made her musical guest debut on Saturday Night Live on January 29, 2011, the thirteenth episode of Season 36, hosted by actor Jesse Eisenberg She performed "Right Thru Me" and "Moment 4 Life" and also made a cameo on October 15, 2011, where she joined Drake in his second performance of "Make Me Proud."
She returned to Saturday Night Live to made her 2nd musical guest appearance, on December 6, 2014, the eighth episode of Season 40, hosted by actor James Franco. She performed "Bed of Lies" with Skylar Grey for her first set and a medley of "Only" and "All Things Go" for her second set.
She returned to Saturday Night Live as the musical guest for her 3rd appearance on May 19, 2018, which is the Season 43 finale, hosted by longtime former cast member and Weekend Update co-anchor Tina Fey. She performed "Chun-Li" and "Poke It Out" with Playboi Carti.
Nasim Pedrad as Nicki Minaj on the February 18, 2012 episode during the "Baby Blue Ivy" sketch.
She was also impersonated by former cast member Nasim Pedrad on the February 18, 2012 episode during the "Baby Blue Ivy" sketch. Former cast member Sasheer Zamata went on later to impersonate her in the January 24, 2015 episode.
Impersonations:
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