The first trailer for Nicki Minaj’s self-titled six-part documentary series has been unveiled, which will explore the rapper’s meteoric rise to popularity in the 2010s.

“You don’t get a manual on how to be a famous rapper – you just learn it as you go,” Minaj says in the teaser, just the first of many memorable comments. 

She goes on to reflect on her early days as a developing rapper in the mid-2000s, saying, “I think the woman [I was] back then, she wasn’t afraid to fail. Female rappers weren’t really charting at the time… I’m fighting for the girls who never thought they could win.”

We also learn that Minaj never desired the spotlight because, as she puts it, “I never wanted to be mainstream – mainstream came to be.”

In the six-part Nicki series, however, equal focus is dedicated to Minaj’s challenges as a woman in the hip-hop industry, with the rapper asserting that she just does not get the respect that males do.

“This industry is just not a loving [or] supportive place,” Minaj says later in the trailer. “It pretends sometimes, but it’s just not.” She went on to address her drug use as a coping mechanism, saying that she “could medicate myself and tell myself it’s okay, but when the high comes down, you’re still there”, and noted that after taking a hiatus from music after 2018’s ‘Queen’, she became the strongest she has ever been in her life.

The making of Nicki’s forthcoming fifth album appears to be a topic as well, as the rapper says in the trailer’s ending: “I have to make music in order to stay sane”.

The premiere date for Nicki has not yet been disclosed, but it has been confirmed that the series will be available on HBO Max before the end of the year.

Coming SOON!!!! The #NickiDocumentary you didn’t know you needed. Love you so much. 😘🫶🏽🎀💕🦄 pic.twitter.com/KbOY5fPU0s

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) July 28, 2022