Why is Nicki Minaj’s alter ego called ‘Roman’?
Roman has been a recurring alter ego throughout Nicki Minaj‘s career. Through the separate identity, the Queens rapper has been able to channel her inner thoughts and provided fans with an endless amount of theories surrounding the mysterious persona.
The name Roman (real name Roman Zolanski) was inspired by French director Roman Polanski, best known for films such as The Pianist and Rosemary’s Baby. Minaj’s first mention of Roman was on X (formerly Twitter), where she revealed she had “officially changed her name” and would only respond to Roman Zolanski. A couple of months down the line, she announced that Roman was her “twin sister.”
Nicki Minaj explained Roman’s personality in her 2011 MTV documentary My Time Now, describing him as “crazy” and “violent.”
“Roman is a crazy boy who lives in me and he says the things that I don’t want to say,” she said. “He was born just a few months ago. I think he was born out of rage. He was conceived in rage, so he bashes everyone and he threatens to beat people, and he’s violent.”
She added, “He wants to be blamed. I don’t wanna blame him. I ask him to leave, but he can’t, he’s here for a reason. People have brought him out. People conjured him up, now he won’t leave.”
Controversially, Polanski, the inspiration behind the name, was arrested for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977 and pled guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in exchange for a probation-only sentence. He then fled from the U.S. to Europe after finding out that the judge would likely reject the plea bargain; to this day, he remains a fugitive from the U.S. justice system.
Nicki Minaj made sure to separate Roman from Polanski on her 2011 track ‘Stupid Hoe’, rapping, “Yes, my name is Roman, last name is Zolanski/ But no relation to Roman Polanski.” Speaking about Roman to T Magazine, Minaj revealed Roman is a lazy night owl and that his sexual orientation is gay.
So, is Nicki Minaj’s alter-ego ‘Roman’ like her at all?
“Sometimes if it’s really early in the morning, Roman gets cranky and doesn’t want to get out of bed,” she said. “Roman is lazy, you know, he wants to stay out all night and not wake up so I send Nicki into the world. Roman has to be conjured up and now you’ve conjured him. Roman is leading the way when it comes to makeup and hair. He’s gay.”
The made-up character is also from London, with her British accent inspired by a member of the Spice Girls and a character from the Harry Potter film series. “There are so many, but one person was Scary Spice,” she told The Guardian. “I used to listen to her all the time and try to make the same faces she’d make when she was talking. Oh, and Hermione [Granger] from Harry Potter.”
Roman has made appearances across various albums including Pink Friday, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Queen and Pink Friday 2, even being named in the song titles ‘Roman’s Revenge’ and ‘Roman Reloaded’.
However, Roman isn’t the only Nicki Minaj alter ego, having also introduced the likes of Harajuku Barbie, Onika Tanya Mirage, Chun Li, Queen Sleeze and Nicki Lewinsky.