Words by Smiley Team
Hip hop artist Onika Tanya Maraj, known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, has a penchant for supporting people less fortunate than herself. From disadvantaged young women to people needing psychological support, she’s proven that despite her fame, she still feels empathy for people who are struggling.
Nicki’s altruism may stem from having overcome struggles herself. As a child, she had to deal with drug addiction and violence at home. Seeing how her mother suffered due to this, she found a drive to succeed.
"I've always had this female-empowerment thing in the back of my mind," she said, "because I wanted my mother to be stronger, and she couldn't be. I thought, 'If I'm successful, I can change her life.'"
She found escapism in performance and was determined to become a successful artist, but her path to fame wasn’t easy either. Along the way, she worked as a waitress before finding her way into the music industry by taking on backup singing roles.
Today, as an openly bisexual artist, she speaks out for LGBT+ rights, makes frequent donations and supports disadvantaged people. Here are 5 key moments when she took action for vital causes.
In 2019, the singer pulled out of her Saudi Arabia concert due to the country’s track record on the rights of women and LGBT+ people, who risk the death penalty for their sexuality. After the Human Rights Foundation wrote to the singer, she cancelled the show saying: “While I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, after better educating myself on the issues, I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression.”
While visiting her home country of Trinidad and Tobago, Nicki donated more than $25,000 to a refuge for girls who have been taken into care, St. Jude’s Home for Girls. She also passed by the home, speaking to the girls about what she has learnt from life so far relating to self-worth, positive relationships and building a career.
For years, Nicki has supported deprived communities in India by donating money for water wells, sewing machines and IT equipment. She was particularly keen to support women and girls from these communities, writing on her Instagram page: “I'm so proud of our sisters in India. God is so good. Their desire was to have water wells & places where they can worship, places where they can learn technology, computers, reading, etc. We're just getting started. These women are us and we are them!”
On several occasions, Nicki has reached out to students struggling to pay their college fees. In 2017 she tweeted fans to say she’d cover tuition costs for whoever could prove they were getting high grades. A year later, she awarded 37 more students by paying for their tuition.
Nicki donated a huge $100 million to a psychological support and counselling service in Pennsylvania. Insiders speculated that she made the donation after learning that a few of her fans struggle with their mental health and had gone to the service for help. Her donation was used to offer scholarships to high achieving students with mental health conditions.
