Nicki Minaj is one of the most successful female rappers of all time. Since making her commercial breakthrough in 2010, her career has continued to soar with endless hit singles, best-selling albums, and sold-out tours. But before she rose to become a rap legend, Minaj struggled with a turbulent childhood.
Born into a family that didn’t have much money, Minaj faced many obstacles as she grew up in Queens, New York City. There were many experiences that challenged her and made it harder for her to achieve her dreams of becoming an entertainer, but that ultimately shaped her into the strong person she is today. From financial issues to personal ones, the trouble never seemed to end for the ‘Barbie Tingz’ rapper, even as she grew into a teenager. Keep reading to find out the truth about Nicki Minaj’s childhood and the complex relationship she had with her late father.
RELATED: Nicki Minaj And Rihanna Fans React To Their Reunion
Early Life In Trinidad & Tobago
Way before she became famous, Nicki Minaj was born in St. James, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago as Onika Tanya Maraj. When she was still a child, her parents left her there to live with her grandmother while they went to the United States to try and set up a life for themselves.
“A lot of times, when you're from the islands, your parents leave and then send for you because it's easier when they have established themselves; when they have a place to stay, when they have a job,” the rapper recalled in her documentary Nicki Minaj: My Time Now. “I thought it was gonna be for a few days, it turned into two years without my mother.”
Eventually, her parents did bring her over to live in Queens. But while Minaj had been imagining a life filled with more opportunity in America, she was disappointed to discover more of the same. “I remember that the furniture wasn't put down," Minaj explained (via Nicki Swift). "It was, like, piled up on each other and I didn't understand why, 'cause I thought it was gonna look like a big castle.”
Living In Fear Of Her Father
As Minaj grew up, her and her mother lived in fear of her father. In an interview with Nightline, the rapper revealed that she feared for her mother’s life because her father was abusive and had issues with drugs and alcohol. She admitted that her father sold the family’s household items for money to buy drugs, threatened to kill her mom, and even once set their house on fire while Minaj’s mom was still inside.
Some members of Minaj’s family have since come out to negate the rapper’s claims, saying that her stories are exaggerated. But her father, who has since passed away, admitted to having angry outbursts while Minaj was living in his house. Whatever went down, Minaj and her father were on good terms before he passed away. One of the happiest parts of her sad life story is that she and her father ended up in a good place again.
RELATED: Fans Troll Nicki Minaj For Always Being Confused When Working Instagram Live
Praying For Wealth
While she was growing up in Queens, Minaj used to pray for more money. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she admitted that the motivations she had behind wanting more money were to free her mother from her father’s tyranny.
"When I first came to America, I would go in my room and kneel down at the foot of my bed and pray that God would make me rich so that I could take care of my mother. Because I always felt like if I took care of my mother, my mother wouldn't have to stay with my father, and he was the one at the time, that was bringing us pain. We didn't want him around at all, and so I always felt like being rich would cure everything, and that was always what drove me."
Falling Pregnant In Her Teens
Minaj faced more problems as she grew up, falling pregnant when she was still a teenager--one of the most tragic parts of her life story. The ‘Anaconda’ rapper has since opened up about the experience, revealing that she got an abortion because she wasn’t ready to be a mother at the time.
On her song ‘All Things Go’ off her album The Pinkprint, Minaj raps about the experience: “My child with Aaron, would've been 16, any minute.”
RELATED: Nicki Minaj Gets Slammed For Railing Against Little Mix's Leigh-Anne
Hitting A Low While Chasing Her Dreams
The struggles continued as Minaj reached adulthood and pursued her dreams of a career in the entertainment industry. She recounts that time in her life as having doors slammed in her face and losing hope that she’d ever make it the way she wanted to. The List reports that at one point, Minaj felt so low during this time that she considered taking her own life.
Thankfully, her fortunes changed when the Dirty Money CEO Fendi found her Myspace page and signed her. Minaj released her first single ‘Massive Attack’ in 2010 and won her first BET award just a few months later for Best Hip-Hop Female.
Growing From Her Pain
There’s no doubt that Nicki Minaj has faced endless struggles in her life. But looking back at them now, from her abandonment in Trinidad & Tobago to her father’s issues with drugs and alcohol to her teenage pregnancy to the setbacks she faced while pursuing her dreams, those negative experiences molded the rapper into the woman she is now.
Carol Maraj, Nicki’s mom, said in an interview with The Sun that Minaj is now very conscious of dominant and obsessive men and that going through her life experiences “helped her to become the truly fierce person she is today.”
