My story detailed the journey of recording artist Nicki Minaj, and her struggle to become successful coming from a low-income household with a drug addicted parent. I felt as though her life story was very cinematic in terms of having virtually nothing, and being able to become the best in your profession. Her life story is a living testament that you can get out of any situation if you truly work hard and do not lose sight of your vision. Nicki Minaj is one of my favorite artists because I followed her journey to success. To see anyone overcome adversity is truly inspiring so I’m excited to share her inspirational story. I also updated the story to make the audience for the story more clear.
The Story of Onika
The topic of choice is the rise of someone who came from nothing and ultimately achieved a better life for themselves. Sure, Nicki Minaj was the subject of my story but her story resonates with so many people around the world. You do not have to be a fan of her music, her image or of her in general to appreciate someone who put in hard work to get to where they are today. We are talking about a girl who was abandoned by her mother a young age living in a poor/dangerous area in the Queens borough of New York City, that really had the odds stacked against her.
Her father was a drug addict and he even burned down the home she was growing up in due to his addiction. I wrote from a very relatable place in my story captions because I wanted the reader to empathize with her life even if they haven't gone through things as traumatic as she did, they can still feel the pain she must have felt as a human. We all have the ability to overcome challenges and I feel like Nicki Minaj's success story really demonstrates that. In terms of the way we illustrated what a great story has I believe it's easy to identify Nicki's house being burned down and losing her jobs as the conflict in the story and the happy ending being her becoming a successful megastar.
The rising action would be when she released her mixtape and Lil' Wayne saw it and got in contact with her because that really was the catalyst of her career. The Climax would be around the time Lil Wayne revoked his invite to his label and removed her from the song. That leaving the resolution as her (Nicki) writing another verse to show her ambition and drive and ending with her getting signed for 5 million dollars. With Nicki's story being sort of a biography I can't really pinpoint a direct antagonist to her life because I'm sure there were many people attempting to stop her hustle and make her dreams not come true but there are too many to cite as "antagonists".
The protagonist of course being Nicki who ultimately reigned supreme in achieving everything she aspired to be. The relevant challenge could be anything from her upbringing not being stable, to being fired, all the way to almost not getting her big break. These situations all pose an honest struggle and though you may not have had a chance to pitch your music to Lil' Wayne you probably have felt how huge that might be for someone pursuing a career in music to have the opportunity to work with the biggest rapper in the world.
Finally, the worthy lesson that can be learned is that no matter how big the struggle may be, anyone can make it possible because seeing all the terrible things Nicki has went through should make you feel like even you can go through a ton of situations and somehow become a multiplatinum recording artist (if that's what you are chasing). This lesson doesn't have to be applied to just music, it is a life lesson to work hard to overcome obstacles because even Nicki Minaj, for as rich and successful as she is today, has had them. Nicki's story is for everyone facing adversity or going through a tough period in life story.