The 37-year-old rapper is expecting her first child with her husband, Kenneth Petty.
Nicki Minaj has always wanted to have kids. The 37-year-old rapper announced last month that she and her husband, Kenneth Petty, are expecting their first child, something that shouldn't come as a surprise to any of Minaj's fans.
The "Super Bass" rapper has been open about her desire to be a mom for quite a while, telling Complex in 2012 that she'd like to be married and have kids within 10 years.
"In 2022, I’ll definitely be married and I’ll definitely have my two children," she predicted. "OK, I might have three."
Minaj went on to reveal that she wants "at least one boy," but doesn't think she "need[s] a girl."
"I really need a boy in my life. A baby boy. Because… I’m so attached to my little brother and I felt like that was my real son," she said. "And boys, they’re just so, I don’t know... My heart just melts when I see them."
Two years later, she told the same outlet about what kind of parent she thinks she'll be.
"I wonder if I’m going to be one of those women who balances my child with a career. I always said, 'When I have my baby, it’s going to be all about my baby,'" she said. "I don’t want the child feeling like they don’t have all of my attention, so I always said, 'I’m going to take a little break.' But we’ll see."
In that interview, Minaj also admitted that if she didn't have a baby by the release of her fifth album, she'd be "disappointed."
"I feel like I was put here to be a mother. I have definitely put off the wife thing because I don’t want people in my business. I’d rather not do anything that’s going to be on paper but I definitely will be married before I have my baby," she said. "I want to make sure I do it in that order. I’ve always felt like that since I was young; my mother always put that in my head."
"By the fifth album, I will have walked down the aisle and I will at least be on baby number one, possibly baby number two," Minaj added. "And have $500 million."
Her fourth and most recent album, Queen, was released in 2018.
Minaj spoke to Vogue Italia the same year and emphasized her desire for a family.
"I don’t want to work my whole life without ever experiencing the joys of a family," she said. "Family has always been very important to me, and that is why I want to wait until the right moment before starting my own. Right now I am too busy, but at a certain point the situation will change."
In 2015, Minaj told Cosmopolitan that having kids was still part of her 10-year plan.
"Ten years from now, I will have two children, unless my husband wants three," she said. "I will be into my fitness a lot more, I will stop yo-yo dieting, and I'll be a housewife with careers that I can run from home."
"I want to be able to cook for my children, bake cookies for them, and watch them grow up," Minaj continued. "I just want to be Mommy. Take them to school, go to the parent-teacher conference, help them with their homework, and put their work on the refrigerator."
In a 2018 interview with Wonderland, Minaj teased that she wasn't going to put off having children "much longer."
"I’ve got to get married first then I’ll have a child. I might be closer than people think actually," she said. "I love children."
Minaj seemed to confirm her willingness to leave her career behind for a family last September, when she took to Twitter to reveal that she "decided to retire & have my family."
Though she later backtracked on her self-described "abrupt" statement a bit, she and Petty tied the knot the next month. Around the same time, the rapper opened up about the possibility of growing her family.
"We practice all the time, like, three times a night," she told ET at the time. "At first I was like, 'I want it now, I want it now!' And then I started thinking, 'Do I want it right right now, or do I want to wait another year?' Because I have a couple things that I have to do [first]."
Months before her pregnancy announcement, some fans became convinced that the rapper was expecting after she shared a video of Perry rubbing her stomach.
"Trinidad with your dad," she captioned the post.
The pregnancy rumors continued to swirl in May, when Minaj responded to a fan's question about morning sickness.
"Lmao," she wrote. "No throwing up. But nausea and peeing non stop. Omg what do u think this means guys???? Lmaooooooooooo."
When a fan requested a baby bump pic, Minaj insisted they'd have to wait "a couple of months."
"The world ain't ready yet," she wrote.
The world was finally ready in July, though, when Minaj took to Instagram to announce that she's "#preggers."
"Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement & gratitude," Minaj wrote in response to all the fan love following her happy news. "Thank you all for the well wishes."
Watch the video below for more on Minaj.
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