Alter egos

An alter ego is described as a second self^[1], which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality.^[2] Alter egos are used by numerous performing artists who use stage or screen personae both to entertain audiences and to explore new identities for themselves^[2] but usually, people who have been deprived or who haven't been able to do what they always wanted to do in life have an alter ego.^[3]

Onika Tanya Maraj has created alter egos by different manners. The alter ego Cookie was created because of her parents' constant fights and arguments^[4]. Later, she created alter egos like Rosa and Nicole for entertainment purposes.^[5] "Nicki Minaj" was originally an alter ego of Maraj but was later used as her stage name. In today music, alter egos has been more frequently used by artists. Both Lady Gaga and Beyonce have created their alter egos "Jo Calderone" and "Sasha Fierce", respectively. Minaj's alter egos carry the traits of persons rather than alter egos, but Minaj herself has stated that she calls them her alter egos.^[6]

List of alter egos

The following is a list of alter egos created by Nicki Minaj for personal, creative or entertainment reasons:

Image	Name	Origin	First appearance	Description
	Cookie	Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago	Minaj's childhood	She is the first alter ego of Nicki Minaj, introduced to escape the troubles of her home life as a child.[4]
	Onika	Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago	"Letting Go (Dutty Love)	Onika is just the Normal Nicki; when Nicki shows her true self and shows vulnerability and romanticness..
	Female Weezy	Queens, New York City	"Y.U. Mad"	She is represented as the female version of Lil Wayne.[7]
	The Harajuku Barbie	Queens, New York City	"Itty Bitty Piggy"	Often shortened simply to Barbie, is the name of one of Minaj's longest lasting and most famous alter egos, particularly known for her soft voice.
	Lap Dance Nika	Unknown	I Am Music II Tour	She performed lap dances at Wayne's tour and later retired when the tour ended. She is rumored to appear when a lap dance is needed.
	Martha Zolanski	London, England	"Roman's Revenge"	She is the mother of Roman Zolanski and an alter ego of Minaj,[8] She is the godmother of Nicki and is a strict and traditional woman.
	Nicki Lewinsky	Queens, New York City	"Sunshine"	She is one of the most know alter egos of Minaj when she was an underground artist, and is known for her sexual lyrics.
	Nicki Teresa	New York City	Minaj's visit at "The Garden of Dreams Foundation"	Also known as The Healer, is an alter ego, who wears a colorful scarf around her head and went around places as the "healer to her fans."[9]
	Nicki the Boss	Queens, New York City	"Jump Off '07"	She is described as the ingenious austere business woman that always thinks outside of the box, who is never afraid to assert herself.[10]
	Nicki the Ninja	Philippines	"Higher Than a Kite"	She is a hip hop lyrical assassin, who is sometimes naughty.[11]
	Nicole	California	Elle photo shoot interview	She is portrayed as a very sweet and bubbly girl who is up for any man who seeks her attention.
	Norman	Middle East	Minaj's UStream	He is an alter ego of Minaj, who makes appearances on UStream along with SB.[12]
	Point Dexter	Unknown	"The Creep"	Often shortened to simply Dexter, is one of Minaj's alter ego who is creepy and a pervert.[13]
	Roman Zolanski	London, England	"Bottoms Up"	Minaj's most well-known and utilized alter ego, described as a blond homosexual male characterized as being far more outspoken and wild than Nicki herself.
	Rosa	Spain, or Latin American	Lopez Tonight	She is an alter ego of Minaj, created in an interview due to the Mexican origins of the host.[14]
	Tyrone	Harlem, New York City	"Till the World Ends (The Femme Fatale Remix)"	He is a crackhead from Harlem who raps in a detuned and erratic way.
	Chun Li	Somewhere in China	"Fireball"	Chun-Li is Nicki's bad guy persona. Chun was first introduced through Willow Smith's "Fireball". She appeared at the 2018 Met-Gala. Chun is rumored to be on Nicki's fourth studio album "Queen".
	Romania	Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean	"Bed"	She was captured her in rare form in the "Bed" music video. Before they knew it, she was gone. She didn’t like the cameras & drones.
	Barbie Balla	Unknown

Unconfirmed/Unofficial alter egos

In various occasions Minaj have called herself by many different names leading to fan's speculate of more alter egos, however, those have not been confirmed by Minaj as her alter egos or simply they do not have enough information to be classified as alter egos. The following is a list of unconfirmed or unofficial alter egos of Nicki Minaj:

1. The Bride of Blackenstein: character of Minaj created for an episode of Saturday Night Live, who acted like a complainant wife.^[15] Some fans catalog her as an alter ego.
2. Da Kid: Minaj sometimes change her tone when saying "Da Kid" but it could probably just be nickname like "Nicki Minaj."^[16][17]
3. Dr. Minaj: for the music video of "Out of My Mind," Minaj created a character for the video called "Dr. Minaj" who falls in love with her patient B.o.B.
4. Black Hannah Montana: referring to herself as "Hannah Montana," Minaj could mean various things: one being she has alter egos like Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) had Hannah Montana, or that she is a super star like Montana.^[18][19][20]
5. Sexy Chocolate: Minaj said on her twitter that her stripper name is "Sexy Chocolate."^[21] Nothing else is known about her.
6. Super Snatch: for the Beam Me Up Scotty photo shoot, Minaj said that she was dressed up like "Super Snatch" and said that she is "coming soon" before saying "the fastest boss in the business."^[22]
7. None Salmon: Nicki responded to a tweet that stated "Your stripper name is the color of your underwear and the last thing you ate," and deemed herself "None Salmon."
8. Lorrie Zolanski: Lorrie is a rumored alter-ego that supposedly appeared in Stupid Hoe and was rumored to appear in Beez In The Trap as well. She is said to be the younger sister of Roman, and daughter of Martha. She has a lisp and swears like a sailor.
9. Mermie: A rumored alter ego was made by fans every time they see Nicki in a green wig and a bikini like in "Massive Attack", Super Bass", "Starships" etc., Mermie is a mermaid that came to land, hence it's name.

References