Nicki Minaj
Kathryn Periquet
Childhood
- Raised by her grandparents in Trinidad and Tobago while her parents moved to America looking for a new life
- Her parents left her at 5 years old and she eventually came back
- Started new life in Queens, New York
- Dad was a severe drug addict with a long history of violence
- Father set her house on fire in attempt to kill her mom
- Her cousin, Nicholas Telemaque, was shot
- Got Pregnant around the age of 15 and had an abortion
Obstacles
- Being a female rapper: wasn't common to have a women rapping
- Self-Esteem: Had to feel comfortable around the people she was working with so she could sing
Journey to Becoming Successful
- backup singing roles for New York City rappers
- discovered on myspace by Dirty Money CEO and signed her
- First single was "Massive Attack" which led to her winning best Hip-Hop female at the BET Awards
- November 22nd 2010 she released her first album, Pink Friday
- Nominated for 220 awards
- Won 91 awards
- "Pink Friday" and "Pinkprint" both reached #1 on billboards top 200 list
Motivation
Being a female rapper a lot of people doubted her because of her gender. There weren't a lot of well known female rappers so they didn't believe in her as much as they would if she was male. This motivated her to prove them wrong and show women can do anything. She was a very women powered base person and she proved the people who doubted her wrong for now she is a very successful rapper.