Book Review: 'Nicki Minaj -- the Woman Who Stole the World, an Unauthorized Biography'

"This is the story of Onika Tanya Maraj, born on Dec. 8, 1982, in St. James, a suburb of Trinidad and Tobago's capital city Port of Spain, of African, Trinidadian and Indo-Asian descent who grew up singing in the choir in a home filled with drugs, alcohol, violence and her mother's love.

This is the story of Nicki Minaj, a young girl living in New York City with the drive, discipline and determination to make this world and this moment all hers, "For Life!"
Excerpted from press release

 

Rap star Nicki Minaj made headlines recently when she threatened to shoot fellow judge Mariah Carey during an expletive-laced tirade delivered on the set of "American Idol." The video of the Minaj meltdown went viral over the Internet, leaving viewers to speculate about whether the cat fight was real or merely a staged, attention-grabbing publicity stunt.



In order to be able to make an informed guess, you might want to check out "Nicki Minaj: The Woman Who Stole the World," an unauthorized biography by Lynette Holloway. The author has an impressive resume which reflects stints at Ebony Magazine, The New York Times and The Root.

Her book is basically the literary equivalent of an uncritical fanzine, since it is reverential in tone and arrives laced with song lyrics and photos of her subject with colleagues like Lil' Wayne, Usher, Rihanna, Jay Leno, Lauren London, Drake, Lil' Kim, Chris Brown, Diddy and Justin Bieber.

Ms. Minaj might strike the uninitiated as Lady Gaga in blackface, given her similarly-bizarre sartorial style. Furthermore, she has no problem wearing wigs of any hue, natural or man-made atop those ridiculous, revealing outfits which defy description.

As far as clues about where Nicki learned to swear, look no further than her father who, she admits, "would yell and curse a lot." And that wasn't the worst of her dysfunctional childhood, since her dad was also a crackhead who routinely ripped off his own relatives. Is it any surprise, then, that she's still a little rough around the edges?

Note: Nicki was born in Trinidad in 1982 but raised in the 'hood in South Jamaica, Queens. But now that the eccentric pop star's turning 30, one only hopes that she mellows out enough to enjoy her money and fame.

Let's pray she opts to mature rather than ignite the sort of senseless hip-hop feud that claimed the lives of Tupac and Biggie. If not, she's apt to go down in history not as "The Woman Who Stole the World" but as "The Diva Who Murdered Mariah." That's the next bio.