Nicki Minaj, Actress: The Other Woman. Nicki Minaj was born Onika Tanya Maraj on December 8, 1982 in St. James, Trinidad and Tobago & raised in Queens, New York City. She grew up in a troubled family with a father that was a drug addict who later changed after he checked into rehab and started going to church. Minaj went to LaGaurdia High School and studied singing and acting.