Nicki Minaj was born on December 8, 1984, and grew up in Queens, New York. She is of African, Trinidadian and Indo-Asian descent.[2] She graduated from LaGuardia High School in Manhattan where she studied Singen and acting.[3]

Minaj was discovered on MySpace Von Dirty Money CEO Fendi, who signed her to his Dirty Money label. After appearing on The Carter Edition of Young Money's The Come Up DVD series, Minaj was contacted Von Lil Wayne. The two collaborated on a number of mixtape tracks.[4] In April 2007, she released her first mixtape, Playtime Is Over, where she posed as a Barbie doll on the...