Nicki Minaj (BOOK REVIEW)
Nicki Minaj: The Woman Who Stole the World
An Unauthorized Biography
by Lynette Holloway
Colossus Books
Paperback, $12.00
116 pages
ISBN: 978-1-937269-30-2
Book
Review by Kam Williams
“This
is the story of Onika Tanya Maraj, born on December 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.
To see the video of Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey, visit:
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