Fill-In | Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj at Christie's Green Auction, a charitable event followed by a fashion show at Rockefeller Center, in March.Lucas Jackson/ReutersNicki Minaj at Christies Green Auction, a charitable event followed by a fashion show at Rockefeller Center, in March. Go to related article

Directions: Fill in the blanks in the first several paragraphs of this article from the Style section, Its Nickis World.

Use your own words and phrases, or scroll to the end of the post to choose from a scrambled list of the words or phrases that were removed. Another option? Read, or listen to someone read, the original article first, then fill in the blanks from memory.

Perhaps it was the brightly colored surgical mask that covered Nicki Minajs pout at the MTV Video Music Awards last August. Or maybe it was the neon puffball tunic, which made her look as if shed fallen into a bowl of _________, that she wore to Carolina Herreras spring 2012 show in September. But few in 2011 could take their _________ off Ms. Minaj, the Technicolor Barbie with the big _________ and an elastic smile.

Part sweet Lolita, part street-smart _________ from Queens, Ms. Minaj has been the most talked-about young _________ to settle into the front row at New York Fashion Week since Marc Jacobs embraced _________ as his muse in 2005. She is a sought-after cover girl, with spreads in Elle, Cosmopolitan and W magazine. Ms. Minaj sang hits from her debut album, Pink Friday, at recent shows for Victorias Secret and H&M. She could even claim Halloween last fall, judging from the scores of tutorials on YouTube for ! fans see king her _________ look and ice cream swirl _________.

A year ago, Ms. Minaj was making dresses for herself in her _________, said John Demsey, group president of Este Lauder Companies, which owns MAC Cosmetics, the brand that worked with her on a lipstick. Now the others want to get their hands on her.

Those others are companies hoping to get in the Nicki Minaj business. And business is booming, thanks in part to Ms. Minajs behind-the-scenes moves. Like _________ before her, she wants to be a high priestess of _________.

Last spring, she split with her manager, P. Diddy, and began working with the hip-hop veteran Gee Roberson and Cortez Bryant, who also manages _________, the rapper who helped secure Ms. Minajs record deal in 2009 after hearing an early mixtape. A priority of his, Mr. Bryant said in a phone interview, is to negotiate a deal with a fashion house so Ms. Minaj can sell her own line of clothes. (She already has a _________ line with OPI.)

Some pop stars are born, others _________, others spring fully formed from the Internet. Ms. Minaj, 29, whose birth certificate reads Onika Tanya Maraj, moved from Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, to Queens with her parents when she was 5.

As a young girl she loved music and drama, which seemed like an escape from a _________ home life; she told Details magazine in 2010 that her father tried to burn the familys Queens house down in an attempt to kill her mother. (Ms. Minaj declined to be interviewed for this article because, her publicist said, she was recording an album.)

She attended LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts and in 2007 began releasing digital mixtapes, including Beam Me Up Scotty, in 2009, which was well received in hip-hop circles. In September 2010, two months before her album debut, Ms. Minaj and executives associated with her record label, Young Money Entertainment, asked to meet with Mr. Demsey of MAC. Ms. Minaj got right to the _________: she wanted to be the companys Viva Glam! spokesw oman. She was fun and cute, Mr. Demsey recalled. Shes funny, loves makeup and has a _________ style between Vivienne Westwood and a Harajuku girl.

But she wasnt yet a star, so Mr. Demsey proposed an online lipstick promotion over four Fridays, timed to her albums November release.

On Nov. 26, 2010, MAC introduced Ms. Minajs Pink Friday lipstick, selling all 3,000 in stock in 15 minutes, in addition to an eye-popping 27,000 in the next three weeks. The company spent little on _________, Mr. Demsey said, with sales driven mostly by Ms. Minajs _________ postings to fans via Twitter and Facebook. Indeed, 8 of 10 buyers were new to the MAC Web site.

She is all about her _________ and where she wants to go, Mr. Bryant said.

  • basement
  • Lady Gaga
  • Dippin Dots
  • chaotic
  • voluminous
  • point
  • rapper
  • style
  • Lil Wayne
  • Lil Kim
  • tresses
  • nail-polish
  • voice
  • punk
  • advertising
  • mashup
  • fluorescent
  • eyes
  • made
  • brand

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