--- title: Nicki Minaj Gets Key to Queens description: The "No Frauds" rapper received an honorary key to her hometown borough this week, celebrating her accomplishments in music. canonical: https://time.com/4834640/nicki-minaj-key-queens/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-27T15:27:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:44:54.903Z og:title: Major Key Alert: Nicki Minaj Is Truly the Queen of Queens og:description: She's been awarded an honorary key to her hometown borough og:url: https://time.com/4834640/nicki-minaj-key-queens/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb28255bbc054be1/6988d376cf40a8a557c484ec/nicki-minaj-nba.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2017 NBA Awards Live On TNT - Inside og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Major Key Alert: Nicki Minaj Is Truly the Queen of Queens twitter:description: She's been awarded an honorary key to her hometown borough twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb28255bbc054be1/6988d376cf40a8a557c484ec/nicki-minaj-nba.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Major Key Alert: Nicki Minaj Is Officially the Queen of Queens  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 27, 2017 3:27 PM UTC  Nicki Minaj performs on stage during the 2017 NBA Awards Live On TNT on June 26, 2017 in New York City. Nicki Minaj performs on stage during the 2017 NBA Awards Live On TNT on June 26, 2017 in New York City.Michael Loccisano—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 27, 2017 3:27 PM UTC Nicki Minaj has always [considered herself a generous queen](http://time.com/4813059/nicki-minaj-remy-ma-2-chainz-realize/). But now she can even more officially lay claim to that kind of royal title, thanks to her hometown of Queens, New York. On Monday, the “No Frauds” rapper and iconic performer was awarded an honorary key to the city of Queens from the borough’s president, Melinda Katz, for her “outstanding career achievements in music.” Minaj polished her performance skills [early on as a student](http://people.com/tv/nicki-minaj-acted-in-high-school-watch-the-dramatic-scene-stealer-as-a-teen/) at the famous La Guardia High School of Music and Art in Queens before launching her rap career and linking up with her Young Money counterparts [Drake and Lil Wayne](http://time.com/4746706/nicki-minaj-drake-lil-wayne-no-frauds-video/). Since then, Minaj has gone on to become the [highest-charting female rapper](http://www.billboard.com/artist/312259/nicki-minaj/biography) of all time. And while on Sunday she did not win the BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist (that went [to her Bronx rival](http://ew.com/music/2017/06/26/remy-ma-disses-nicki-minaj-bet-awards/), Remy Ma), Minaj has taken home that prize every other year for the last seven years running. She shared her royal update on Instagram, calling the new accolade a “pleasant surprise.” And although she wasn’t at the ceremony in person to receive this new addition to her handbag, she did note that she was interested in meeting with Katz. It’s likely she couldn’t make it because she was preparing for her performance at Monday night’s [inaugural NBA Awards](http://www.complex.com/music/2017/06/nicki-minaj-remy-ma-disses-nba-awards), where she owned the stage in a lavish, queen-worthy costume and [paraded in](https://www.instagram.com/p/BV1ElHThxjb/?taken-by=nickiminaj) on a throne-like bed held aloft by male dancers. Her fans on the internet loved it. > [](https://twitter.com/PummieTheHippie/status/879460513490587648) > [](https://twitter.com/CeeXMaraj/status/879468856548499457) > [](https://twitter.com/MINAJ%5FJAMES/status/879468303248445440) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4834640/nicki-minaj-key-queens/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4834640/nicki-minaj-key-queens/"},"headline":"Major Key Alert: Nicki Minaj Is Officially the Queen of Queens","datePublished":"2017-06-27T15:27:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:44:54.903Z","description":"The \"No Frauds\" rapper received an honorary key to her hometown borough this week, celebrating her accomplishments in music.","url":"https://time.com/4834640/nicki-minaj-key-queens/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Music","Nicki Minaj","apester"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb28255bbc054be1/6988d376cf40a8a557c484ec/nicki-minaj-nba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb28255bbc054be1/6988d376cf40a8a557c484ec/nicki-minaj-nba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017 NBA Awards Live On TNT - Inside","caption":"2017 NBA Awards Live On TNT - Inside","creditText":"Michael Loccisano—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4834640/nicki-minaj-key-queens/","name":"Major Key Alert: Nicki Minaj Is Officially the Queen of Queens"}}]}] ```