Nicki Minaj dropped the bombshell last Thursday after announcing her retirement on Twitter.
“I’ve decided to retire and have my family,” the 36-year-old rapper, singer, songwriter and model wrote via @NICKIMINAJ.
She added, “To my fans, keep representing me… Love you for life.”
However, Minaj later deleted the tweet on Friday and told fans she should have addressed the issue on Queen Radio – her station launched in 2018 to treat listeners to hours of uncensored entertainment.
Apologising to fans for her “abrupt and insensitive” tweet about her retirement, Minaj wrote a fan who asked her what was going on.
“I’m still right here. Still madly in love with you guys and you know that. In hindsight, this should’ve been a Queen Radio discussion and it will be.
“I promise you guys will be happy. No guests, just us talking about everything. The tweet was abrupt and insensitive, I apologise,” she said.
Although the rapper has not addressed if she’s quitting music or not, her fans are already nervous, with many of them hoping she would not retire.
“You can still have a family and continue with your music career or did I miss something?” a fan with the Twitter handle @itoro261 said.
Rapper and actor, Curtis Jackson, popularly known as 50 Cent, was also upset by the news, taking to Instagram and asking Minaj to “stay in the game.”
Minaj, a successful rapper
Minaj, who recently released her new single, ‘Megatron,’ is undoubtedly one of the most successful rappers of all time.
When it comes to rappers with the most Billboard Hot 100 entries, Minaj is one of them, with 104 entries.
She comes after Aubrey Drake, aka Drake, with 204 entries, and Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, aka Lil Wayne, with 163 entries.
Minaj is also among the three female artistes who have at least 40 songs that have each surpassed 100 million streams on music streaming platform, Spotify. The other two female artistes are Robyn Rihanna and Ariana Grande.
Tough childhood
Minaj was christened Onika Tanya Maraj at birth in Saint James, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Her father, Robert Maraj, was a financial executive and part-time gospel singer, while her mother, Carol Maraj, was also a gospel singer with Afro-Trinidadian ancestry.
Robert was said to be a severe drug addict with a long history of violence. In one of those moments of demonstration of violence, he was said to have burnt down their house in December 1987 in an attempt to kill Carol.
That year, when Minaj was five, Carol brought her and her four siblings to Queens, New York City, United States.
Years later, Minaj said the early struggles in her family fuelled her drive to rise above the life her parents knew.
“I’ve always had this female-empowerment thing in the back of my mind, because I wanted my mother to be stronger and she couldn’t be. I thought, ‘If I’m successful, I can change her life,’” she said.
While in the US, Minaj successfully auditioned for admission to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, which focuses on visual and performing arts.
After graduation, she wanted to become an actress, but she struggled at it and finally quit.
She later got a job as a waitress at a restaurant but was fired for discourtesy to customers. She was fired from at least 15 other jobs for similar reasons.
Music career
Determined to make it in the music business, Minaj took on backup singing roles for local New York City rappers, including Full Force.
Soon, she began writing her own songs and was discovered by the CEO of Dirty Money Records, Big Fendi, who had come across her MySpace page.
That connection led Minaj to Lil Wayne, who collaborated with her on a series of mixtapes, including ‘Playtime is over’ (2007), ‘Sucka free’ (2008) and ‘Beam me up Scotty’ (2009). These got Minaj public recognition.
She eventually got signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment label in August 2009, becoming its first-ever female artist.
After signing with Young Money Entertainment, Minaj released her first studio album, ‘Pink Friday’ (2010), which peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was ultimately certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Her second album, ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,’ was released in 2012 and debuted at number one in several countries.
As an actress, Minaj made her film debut in the 2012 animated film, ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift.’ In 2013, she was a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol.
Minaj’s rapping is said to be distinctive for its fast flow and the use of alter egos and British accent. She was the first female artist included on MTV’s annual Hottest MC List.
In 2016, she was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Minaj has earned four top-five entries on the Billboard Hot 100 and accumulated the most Billboard Hot 100 entries among women of all genres.
Minaj has broken other records, including the most top 10 hits among women on the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Airplay chart. She has been called one of the most influential female rap artistes of all time.
Throughout her career, she has received numerous accolades, including six American Music Awards, 11 BET Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, a Billboard Women in Music Rising Star Award, and 10 Grammy Award nominations.
Minaj has sold over 20 million singles as a lead artiste, 60 million singles as a featured artiste and over five million albums worldwide, making her one of the world’s best-selling music artistes.
Net worth, exotic cars
If Minaj buys expensive fashion pieces, posh cars and mega houses, it is probably because she’s doing fine in the financial department.
The rapper is reportedly worth $85m (N26bn), thanks to huge album sales, concert tours, numerous endorsements and business ventures.
She also was paid millions of dollars for her season of American Idol and owns a stake in JAY-Z’s streaming service, Tidal.
Her income has consistently put her in the company of some of the industry’s heavy hitters. In 2017, she became the first woman named on Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash Kings list, taking sixth place.
With lavish earnings sometimes comes a lavish lifestyle and this is obvious for Minaj, who has a thing for pink.
Most of her cars – including Range Rover, Bentley and Lamborghini, Bugatti and Cadillac – are pink.
In her garage can be found exotic vehicles such as a $200,000 (N61m) Bentley Continental GT, a $400,000 (N122m) Lamborghini Aventador and a $200,000 (N61m) Lamborghini Gallardo.
A Range Rover Autobiography is frequently seen at her home, although the colour toggles between pink, white and black.
Beverly Hills mansion
Minaj owns a $12m (N3.7bn) 11,500 sq ft gated mansion in Beverly Hills. The roof of the house is pink.
The house sits high in the Hollywood hillside and boasts some pretty cool views of Downtown Los Angeles and the mountains beyond, something most people can only dream of.
The house is terracotta-coated and has a kind of Mediterranean, Spanish-type vibe going on on the outside.
Inside, it has a two-story foyer, mural ceiling, a huge living room with a beautiful fireplace and stunning arched French doors that lead outside to the swimming pool, spa and barbecue.
The house also includes a wooden-lined library with built-in shelves, a large modern-style kitchen, family room, eight bedrooms, a walk-in wardrobe and a five-car garage.