All About Nicki Minaj’s Parents, Robert and Carol Maraj

Nicki Minaj was born in Trinidad to parents Robert and Carol Maraj

Nicki Minaj may be the queen of rap, but she owes her roots to her parents.

The “Super Freaky Girl” rapper was born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad to her parents Robert and Carol Maraj. When she was 3 years old, her parents moved from the Caribbean island to New York City and Nicki was left living with her grandmother. Two years later, her parents came back to take her and her brother with them to South Jamaica, Queens.

Nicki later admitted that she was aware of her parent’s financial situation growing up and how they were struggling.

“You figure out the value of money when you come from a different country, and then you don’t have what the other kids have,” she said in her cover story for Vogue‘s December 2023 issue. “Children know a lot more than you think regarding poverty.”

Early on, she made a goal for herself that she would become rich and famous and buy her mother a house — and even prayed when she was 5 years old that her dream would come true. “God, please make me rich so I can buy my mother another house and take care of my family,” she told Vogue of her childhood prayers.

Nicki remains close to her mother and mended her relationship with her father before his sudden death in 2021 from a hit-and-run car accident.

“I find myself wanting to call him all the time. More so now that he’s gone. Life is funny that way,” she wrote about the “devastating loss” in a letter to fans.

From their own lives to how they raised their daughter, here’s everything to know about Nicki Minaj’s parents.