Nicki Minaj’s Mom Opens Up About Her Daughter’s Painful Childhood

Nicki Minaj has never been shy when talking about her painful childhood—and the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, who was addicted to drugs.

But in a new interview, the “Anaconda” rapper’s mom, Carol Maraj, has opened up about her husband’s issues—and the domestic abuse she, Nicki and her two sons suffered at his hands.

“My husband used to get high on cocaine and alcohol and would come home and terrorize the whole family,” Ms. Maraj said.

“Some nights, while my children were sleeping, my husband would come in intoxicated. He would be very menacing and threaten me, calling me a whole lot of names. My children would sit up in their beds crying and wait it out. He would bring so much fear to them, they wouldn’t know his next move.”

Nicki has previously told Rolling Stone that when she first came to America (she was born in Trinidad and Tobago) “I would go in my room and kneel down at the foot of my bed and pray that God would make me rich so I could take care of my mother.”

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Nicki says the abuse made her ambitious. But Carol concluded it’s responsible for making her daughter the strong woman she is today.

While Carol and Nicki’s father, Robert, still lived together earlier in Nicki’s career, the Maraj matriarch tells The Sun she has since kicked him out as their attempts to reconcile have failed.

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In the past, Robert preferred Nicki not speak about her upbringing—having since been treated for his addiction—but she does so anyway, hoping it will serve as a cautionary tale.

“It’s the price you pay when you abuse drugs and alcohol,” she told Rolling Stone in 2010. “Maybe one day your daughter will be famous and talk to every magazine about it, so think about that, dads out there who want to be crazy.”