1982-2006: Early life and career beginnings
Onika Tanya Maraj was born in Saint James, a suburb of Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, on December 8 , 1982 , to parents Carol and Robert Maraj. She is of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian ancestry and has two siblings. Minaj's mother held numerous jobs, including an accounting clerk, a foreign exchange teller, and a gospel singer. Her father worked for American Express, suffered from alcohol and drug addictions, and once attempted to kill her mother by setting their house on fire.Until she was five years old, Minaj lived with her grandmother in Saint James, and was occasionally visited by her mother. She and her mother later moved to Queens, a borough in New York City. Minaj stated that her upbringing lacked discipline, and caused her to "seek out and practice self discipline".
Minaj attended PS 045 Clarence Witherspoon School during her elementary years, and later attended Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210 , where she played the clarinet. She then graduated from LaGuardia High School, which specializes in music and the visual and performing arts. Minaj participated in the drama program and initially planned to sing at LaGuardia, but lost her voice on the day of the audition. Minaj described her high school life as being distracted from her academics by "acting and boys". Minaj wanted to become an actress, and in 2001 , she was cast in the Off-Broadway play, "In Case You Forget". After her acting career failed to take off, Minaj worked at Red Lobster in the Bronx at the age of 19 as a waitress. Minaj was fired from Red Lobster because of her discourteousness to customers. She stated she had been fired from "at least fifteen jobs" for similar antics. Other jobs Minaj held were administrative assistant, customer service and an office manager position at an unknown business located on Wall Street.
Minaj briefly signed with Brooklyn group Full Force, in which Minaj rapped in a foursome group called "Hoodstars," which consisted of group members Lou $ tar (son of "Bowlegged Lou"), Scaff Beezy (Minaj's current hype man), and 7even Up. In 2004 the group recorded the entrance song for WWE Diva Victoria titled "Don't Mess With," it was featured on the compilation album ThemeAddict: WWE The Music, Vol.6. Minaj left the group, unsatisfied with their lack of success. During this time, Minaj uploaded a few songs on her Myspace profile and sent a few of her songs to people in the music industry. At the time, she was managed by Debra Antney. Fendi, CEO of the Brooklyn label Dirty Money Entertainment, who also found rapper Gravy, discovered the music and contacted Minaj, signing her to his label. Initially, Minaj adopted the pseudonym "Nicki Maraj", later changing to "Nicki Minaj", stating "My real name is Maraj. Fendi flipped it when he met me because I had such a nasty flow! I eat bitches!" Under Fendi's label, Minaj appeared on the popular street DVD "The Come Up Volume 11 " that featured underground rappers from New York.
