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Nicki Minaj Shares How Childhood Trauma Impacts Parenting Her Son

Nicki Petty Papa
Nicki Minaj / IG

Nicki Minaj opening up about how her childhood trauma in Trinidad has affected her approach to parenting her son.

The “Do We Have A Problem?” rapper disclosed some details of the situation she faced as a child in a recent interview with Interview Magazine. The detailed new sit down is alongside Jada Pinkett-Smith, who is a fan of her music. Nicki Minaj, who now lives in New York, explained that when she looks at her son, she sees a reflection of herself, and that has caused her to rehash some trauma from the past.

Nicki Minaj rapper explained that the trauma started when she was two years old. At that time, her parents left her in Trinidad, and because she was so attached to her mother, she got it into her young mind that her mom would be back the next day. It would be two years before she would see her again.

“In fact, right before I came to the States, my mother had to come to Trinidad because I had to have an operation. And when I opened my eyes from the operation, and I was maybe three years old going on four, I started crying because I didn’t know who this lady was,” she revealed.

Kenneth Papa Nicki
Kenneth Petty, Papa Bear, Nicki Minaj

In a fit of panic, she asked her cousin to come into the hospital room as she did not recognize her mother. Nicki welcomed her first son with her husband, Kenneth Petty, in 2020 and shared that having a baby wasn’t easy during the peak of the Covid pandemic.

That was mostly because of the fear that she had that her baby, who she calls Papa Bear, would become infected.

“I love my son so much that I don’t know if it’s normal, but it seems unhealthy because I took too long to start working and leaving him to be watched by anyone, so now I have this real bad separation anxiety. So that’s not good,” she added.

The “Super Bass” artist also used the opportunity to let fans know that the next album should be here before the year is done. The decision was made after her mega-hit “Super Freaky Girl” was so well received by fans. It was also a decision on her part to show appreciation for her fans, who she said had gone through so much in recent times.

The Barbz will happily welcome this news since her follow-up to 2018’s Queen has been in the making since 2019. The 39-year-old rapper has been very active this year. Aside from “Super Freaky Girl,” she’s also dropped “Do We Have A Problem?” with Lil Baby and “Bussin.”

Most recently, Nicki Minaj was hailed for bringing together eight powerful female artists on the track “Fine Nine Remix.” That track featured Spice, Pamputtae, Lisa Mercedez, Dovey Magnum, London Hill, Lady Leshurr, Destra Garcia, and Patrice Roberts. It also includes original vocals from Skeng.

It seems the “Starships” rapper will remain very active for the rest of this year, as she also shared that she is getting ready to release a new documentary called Nicki.