THE MIRAGE OF MINAJ

Her songs are as vibrant as her colourful personality. Her debut album Pink Friday’s song Super Bass shot her into limelight in 2010. Since then Nicki Minaj has been a showstopper on the runway to fame not just for her music but also for her flamboyant style. (Her colourful tresses alone is akin to a modernist's work of art).

One of the most successful female rappers till date (and we have a handful compared to a football-field-full-of -male rappers), Minaj has a shocking revelation - she believes that her Barbie-eccentricities inspire her to be what she is today.

“I feel like Barbie is great because it doesn’t only focus on beauty – you have Barbies that work...they have tons of different jobs now. And they come in different shades, which I love, and different hairstyles. So I think that they’ve gotten to the point where they’re making girls feel like it is OK not to look like or be like the traditional Barbie." 

Minaj the ‘live-wire Barbie’ is in fact multicultural; she was born in Trinidad and Tobago and is of African, Trinidadian and Indo-Asian descent; her dad Robert Maraj is half Indian. Before you do a 'yipeee-do'...Minaj's knowledge of India and Indian culture is "limited". Though she is making an effort to know more, right now her ties with her father's country is limited to her love for Indian curry (FYI Minaj, Indian curry outside India is anything but Indian). 

 Growing up was not easy. ""There were issues in the family,"" she says. Her mom brought her along to Queens. “I dealt with a little bit of a dysfunctional household and my inspiration was...if I can just make it out of this and help my family,” says Nicki and there is no denying that she has worked hard to do so.  

 Before Nicki became Nicki Minaj the rapper she was Nicki-an-administrative assistant, customer service executive, an office manager and the most ubiquitous profession of all successful people in the West...a waitress.

No matter what she did, she found her solace in reading, even as a child. “In all the books, I read, there were these big houses and they had all this nice stuff and I always wished that could be my family. I always wanted to be older. All my friends used to be older than me, so when they dyed or cut their hair, I started doing that. At that time, we wore baggy clothes – but it was always colorful – T-shirts and jeans and pink was my favorite.” Seems like the Universe paid attention to Minaj's To-Do list. She became the only female rapper on the i Forbes's Hip Hop Cash Kings List (May 2011-12) where she ranked at number 8 for having minted over $15 million. Be it from her endless list of colourful hairdos, costumes, her pink continental GT and Lamborghini Gallardo costing about $200,000 each and living in her LA home – she is living her dream and makes others’ wishes come true.

She is involved in philanthropic activities and was in the news for gifting a young fan who she met on The Ellen show an an all expense paid shopping spree. 8-year-old Sophia and her 5-year-old cousin Rosie bought all the possible Barbie dolls, a pink toy car, tiny bags and a whole lot of other toys. Minaj is one of those rappers who raises the bar with her rhymes. Her lyrics are considered scriptures by her fans. Rapping lines like I am not a girl that can ever be defined, I am not fly, I am levitation, I represent an entire generation, coupled with brilliant beats is what Minaj is all about. She is currently judging the reality show American Idol but there is a story behind it. “ I asked a lot of people I really cared about if I should do it and the last person I asked was Little Wayne and he said ‘absolutely do it’ and I signed on the dotted line.” 

But the infamous fight between her and Mariah Carey on the show definitely grabbed eyeballs; even got them President Obama’s attention, who was sure they would sort it out.But Minaj doesn’t hold any grudge against Carey. The latter has been one of the people Minaj has looked up to for many years acknowledging the fact that she has really shaped a generation of singers and it is exciting to be on the panel with her. Living out loud, Minaj describes herself from an outsider’s perspective “Minaj is a character – the ego-maniacal rapper you mess with at your own peril. My music doesn't need to sound like a prude unless I'm doing a pop song,” concludes the glamorous rapper.