Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1984 in Trinidad and Tobago but now lives in New York City, New York, United States), better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-American, rapper and singer-songwriter signed to a joint venture between Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment and Universal Motown. After releasing several mixtapes and building substantial buzz online her debut album, Pink Friday, was released on November 22, 2010. In October 2010, Minaj became the first female rapper to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.