Nicki Minaj to Produce, Star in New Autobiographical TV Show
Nicki Minaj is taking her entrepreneurial skills to television, as the rapper revealed plans to executive produce and star in a scripted comedy series based on her life for ABC Family.
The as-yet-untitled series will be based on Minaj’s pre-superstar life in Queens, New York. The Nineties-set show will explore the Trinidad and Tobago-born artist’s “vibrant immigrant family and the personal and musical evolution that lead to her eventual rise to stardom,” reports Deadline.
“This is one of the more unique adventures I’ve ever embarked on,” Minaj told Deadline. “I couldn’t be more proud and excited to team up with an amazing group of people to give the world something really special.” Kate Angelo (Sex Tape, The Back-Up Plan) will be writing the series, with the show’s pilot set to be filmed in December in Queens.
Before she launched her music career, Minaj attended Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and studied acting. A British TV series called You Saw Them Here First unearthed a brief clip of Minaj, born Onika Maraj, acting in an intense scene with her classmates. She’s found herself toying with the film industry several times over the past few years, voicing a character in 2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift and making her on-screen debut in 2014’s The Other Woman. In 2016, she’ll join Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Cedric the Entertainer and Eve in Barbershop 3.
This year, Minaj is the only woman on Forbes’ list of the “Highest Paid Rap Acts” of 2015, raking in $21 million. On top of her music career, Minaj has found success with alcohol investments (Myx Moscato) and fashion (Nicki Minaj Collection at Kmart).