Nicki Minaj is set to executive produce and appear in a scripted comedy series for ABC Family based on the rap star’s life growing up in Queens, New York. The project, from Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, will film a pilot episode in Minaj’s hometown this winter, with the intention to continue to series.
Born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, Minaj moved to the U.S. as a child. Written by Kate Angelo (Sex Tape), the untitled series will
focus on Minaj’s growing up in Queens in the 1990s with her vibrant immigrant family and the personal and musical evolution that lead to her eventual rise to stardom.
“Nicki Minaj is a force to be reckoned with at everything she touches,” said ABC Family’s EVP Programming and Development Karey Burke. “Nicki is an international superstar, yet not everyone knows how inspiring and hilarious her true story is, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Minaj, Kaplan and Angelo executive produce with Stella Bulochnikov and Brian Sher (Boss), as well as Gee Roberson.
“This is one of the more unique adventures I’ve ever embarked on,” said Minaj. “I couldn’t be more proud and excited to team up with an amazing group of people to give the world something really special.”
Minaj studied acting at Manhattan’s prestigious LaGuardia High School and originally pursued acting before launching a successful music career. Minaj, who is in the midst of her worldwide “Pinkprint” tour, is the first solo female artist to have seven singles charting simultaneously on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Her third full-length album, The Pinkprint, became the second highest-selling female debut of 2014 and arrived at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 and No. 1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.
Additionally, Minaj’s 
double-platinum Anaconda set the record for most Vevo views in 24 hours. Minaj also achieved the highest digital sales for any female artist in history with over 50 million track sales between solo and feature performances. She and Adele are the only two artists in history to sell 1 million copies of five different songs in one year.
Minaj made her acting debut with a voice role in Ice Ace: Continental Drift and a co-starring role in the feature comedy The Other Woman. She recently wrapped her first starring movie role in MGM’s Barbershop 3. On TV, Minaj drew attention with her appearance on Saturday Night Live last year where she was a musical guest but did a couple of skits and portrayed Kim Kardashian and Beyonce. Here is Minaj as Kardashian on Weekend Update:
This would mark Kapital Entertainment’s third series for ABC Family, along with drama Chasing Life and comedy Kevin From Work. The six-and-a-half-year old production company has seven on-air series — Secrets & Lies on ABC, The Mysteries Of Laura on NBC, Life In Pieces on CBS, Instant Mom on Nick as well as Chasing Life and Kevin From Work, and the upcoming comedy Divorce on HBO. Kapital also has a pilot at Showtime that is in pre-production.
Angelo started her writing career in TV with stints on Will & Grace and The Bernie Mac Show before segueing to features where she penned The Back-Up Plan and co-wrote Sex Tape. She’s repped by UTA and attorney David Fox.
Minaj is managed by Gee Roberson at Maverick.
Damn, Kate Angelo hot.
Nicki Minaj, the author of Sex Tape and Aaron Kaplan just scream BIG FUNNY!
Lame. LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME. PASS.
Amazing. She’s the queen.
IM SO EXCITED OMFG BLESS ME
The Back Up Plan and Sex Tape are why we can’t have nice things.
Hey, Sex Tape at least made money overseas but it was mostly to Cameron Diaz international star power. And I agree the movie was a big fat turd.
I am so excited for this new journey of Nicki’s. This is sure to be hilarious !
HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY HOLY SH*T!!!!!!
ABC needs to reshuffle the deck… you can’t buy cool when you got a bunch of nerds running the show.
So smart that they didn’t go off and sell this to network television!
So… everybody hates Nicki (as in, an ELC ripoff)?
I hate when they pay money and give credit to people who do nothing but attach their name to something.
Give real writers their due.
Exactly!
This will air on ABC Family? “Family”?? Really?
This is the channel that started out as the religious “Family Channel,” and to this day by contract they are required to run “The 700 Club” twice a day.
Not sure that the ‘ABC’ branding helps all that much either, it’s not like people are clamoring for yet more broadcast network type programming these days…
lol, I sort of love that, though. That they’re required to play “The 700 Club” and also have a hit series about a lesbian couple adopting a whole mess of kids.
It’s like you were frozen in a block of ice in 2007 and thawed out in 2015, unaware of what’s happened during the time in between.
I was surprised that Michael Rosenbaum was baring his ass in one episode of a show on that channel. WTF?
My thoughts exactly! Scraping the bottom, ABC
That SNL clip is horrendous but not as horrendous as ABC Family’s muddled “brand”. Who is their target audience? Wait, who is Minaj’s audience? Why is she with this network? Sounds like a mess waiting to happen.
The concept is weak if we’re being generous and calling it a “concept”. Minaj is a good rapper…let’s just leave her with that focus and not try to make her more than that with some weak ‘sitcom’.
She’s a lyricist. Not a rapper. In my opinion, rappers can freestyle. Lyricists write.
Well about 90% of ‘rappers’ don’t actually freestyle, they mix up a couple of their in-progress verses and 1-2 off the top lines, at best.
She does like to dress up as a circus clown.
I agree.
Her hustle is amazing
Anything’s possible when you’re an illuminati puppet…
She is absolutely amazing and such a role model.. her story should be shared and I can’t wait to see it #barbzzzzzzzzzz
A “role” model? With that much plastic surgery? Yeah, such a great example for young girls.
When is the official date of the first episode?
AWFUL
Annnd…..her career just ended. Ask Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Eve what sitcoms did for them. In fact, NO rapper outside of Will Smith’s career went up after this move.
Hilarious. Yeah, Latifah’s really suffering.
LOL. middling rap hit to Oscar nominated actress. TOTAL down turn.
and LL Cool J is just doing awful. anyone would be ashamed to have his post sitcom career!
remember, when you say things like ‘no(ne)’ or ‘all’, you’re probably wrong and begging to be called out on it.
The show will fail hard. Nicki Minaj is disgusting.
At least it sounds better than all the terrible reality ABC Fam has been rolling out. Which, granted, doesn’t say much.
If it’s anything like Chris Rock’s: Everybody hates Chris, I’ll love it. Betting on it being tremendously successful. Let’s hope.
Must not have been any black writers who could relate to her experience available.
Right??
I loveeeeee loveeee love Nicki Minaj so freaking excited
No one is going to listen to her voice for an entire season of anything.
Lol! I agree