Music

Nicki Minaj Almost Didn’t Attend Her Drama Audition for Prestigious High School Alma Mater

Rapper Nicki Minaj attended a well-known performing arts high school, almost skipping the audition if it wasn't for the support of her mother.

by Julia Dzurillay

Published on March 24, 2022

2 min read

Nicki Minaj attended New York CIty’s LaGuardia High School

Rapper Nicki Minaj is seen leaving the Marc Jacobs Fall 2020 runway show | Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

Minaj is the rapper behind “Super Bass,” “Do We Have A Problem,” and “Starships.” Thanks to her Barbz, she earned millions of Spotify streams and sold-out performances worldwide. Minaj is also a proud New Yorker, attending middle and high school in the city.

Before she was a Grammy Award-winning artist, Nicki Minaj was a student at New York City’s renowned Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

This high school has an impressive alumni list, including Jennifer Aniston, Timothée Chalamet, Ansel Elgort, and Sarah Paulson. Although she did not receive her college degree, Minaj as a strong advocate for education, especially for young women.

According to Giving Compass, the rapper said she “will pay the full college tuition or remaining student loans for 37 of her fans via her new scholarship fund called Student of the Game.” With a challenging audition process, Minaj shared that she almost did not attend this performing arts school.

Nicki Minaj would’ve left her performing arts high school audition without doing her drama audition

With a prestigious reputation and an ideal location on the Upper West Side near Lincoln Center, even Minaj struggled with her singing for LaGuardia High School. It was actually her mother that encouraged her to continue her audition.

“I sucked at my singing audition for Performing Arts High School, and I was crying and walking out the door,” Minaj tweeted. “My mother had to get really stern with me so that I went back inside and did my drama audition, and they ended up loving me. If she gave me a pity party that day, I would’ve LEFT and never known.”

After graduating in 2000, Minaj almost became an actor, crediting her career path to her high school experience. Of course, she pursued music, becoming one of the greatest rappers in the world in the process.

“If all you get is coddled when you complain, you’ll feel the world owes you, and you’ll never mentally develop the armor you need to navigate through your career,” she continued. “People using sympathy for every rollout isn’t going to sustain them over time. You’re going to get some hate. That’s LIFE.”