The cast of Nicki Minaj’s new ABC series, Nicki, has been announced. Based on her childhood in Queens and her family’s immigration from Trinidad in the 1990s, Nicki will star Fruitvale Station’s Ariana Neal as Nicki (born Onika Tanya Maraj). Whoopi Goldberg joins the cast as Miss Martha, a neighbor. Selita Ebanks (Real Husbands of Hollywood) plays mom Grace, and Wesley Jonathan (The Soul Man) will be dad Vincent. McCarrie McCausland (The Originals) stars as Nicki’s brother Jaylen. “I don’t think I had a lot of discipline in my household. My mom motivated me, but it wasn’t a strict household. I kind of wanted a strict household,” Minaj told Sister 2 Sister Magazine of her upbringing in 2012. Minaj will be Nicki’s executive producer, but will appear in the show — which will air on the newly rebranded ABC Family (to be named Freeform) in January.