Nicki Minaj has always wanted children. So much so that in 2012, she made quite the prediction about becoming a mom. Like she said Complex, “In 2022, I will be definitely married and I will certainly have my two children.” She quickly added, “OK, I might have three, but I want at least one boy.”
In the years that followed, she shared the same sentiment with many media outlets, including Uomo Vogue. “I don’t want to work my whole life and never know the joys of a family,” she told the magazine in 2014. To make sure that wasn’t the case, she planned to focus about his career for four years. , then switch priorities and focus on his personal life.
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Likewise, the rapper said Cosmopolitan in 2015, “I just want to be a mom.” She also shared her desire to be an active mom who was always there to cook for her children, “take them to school, go to parent-teacher conference, help them with homework and put their work on the table. fridge. ”
Turns out Minaj wasn’t kidding. Following the schedule she gave Uomo Vogue, Minaj married Kenneth Petty in October 2019 and revealed on her Instagram @nickiminaj that she was pregnant with her first child in July 2020.
Nicki Minaj has made a point of keeping her son out of the spotlight, but we have learned a few things about him since he was born. For one thing, we know the 10-time Grammy nominee was “over the moon” when she found out she was expecting. However, the arrival of her bundle of joy was not a total dream.
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Sharing her birth experience with fans on Twitter, Minaj revealed that she was home and had just gotten out of the shower when her waters broke. Her husband Kenneth Petty “was very scared and I laughed at him,” she wrote. Despite the initial lack of support, they went to the hospital, and there Minaj said she “pushed for 2 and a half hours” before the birth of her son.
Her dreams of motherhood finally came true on September 30, 2020, when she and Petty welcomed a happy, healthy baby boy.
What is the name of Nicki Minaj’s son?
Rather than give in to the temptation to post her little one all over social media, Nicki Minaj has rarely shared images or videos of her son online. She was then secret, in fact, that she hasn’t even revealed her name. However, she told fans her sweet nickname.
Baby Minaj was three months old when he debuted on IG and the rapper shared that she calls him Papa Bear. Writing an ode to her son, she wrote, “Dad Bear thank you so much for choosing me to be your mom.” She also said that “becoming a mom is by far the most fulfilling job I have ever undertaken”.
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And while her legal name is still a mystery, we do know Minaj’s nickname. almost selected. In 2021, she teased Queen Radio listeners, asking, “You know what his name was supposed to be?” Saying she ‘could still change’ her son’s name, she revealed: ‘A lot of people said they liked it, but I said, ‘No. His name was going to be Ninja [but I] changed at the last minute.
What We Know About Papa Bear’s Dad
Nicki Minaj’s relationship with Kenneth Petty has sparked a lot of controversy. The couple first met when they were teenagers, then reconnected over Thanksgiving 2018 when Minaj flew to her old stomping ground — Queens, New York — to help distribute turkeys to those who needed it.
The couple’s connection was instant and a few days later they went Instagram official. Less than a year later, they got married.
However, rather than focusing on the rapper’s happiness, fans immediately took issue with Petty’s troubled past. As TMZ reported, Petty was convicted of attempted rape in 1995 and served four years in prison. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender in New York State and people were quick to criticize the game. Minaj was unfazed and clapped back at the haters, writing, “He was 15, she was 16… in a relationship. But come on, internet, you can’t run my life. You can’t even manage your own life.
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That wasn’t Petty’s only run-in with the law. the explosion found he had actually served seven years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in March 2006 for shooting a man three times, killing him.
Fast forward to 2020 and Petty’s legal drama continued. This time he was charged with failing to register as a sex offender in California (where he had moved with Minaj) and faced 10 years in prison. He was released pending trial, but was hit with a curfew and travel restrictions and actually had to ask a judge for permission to attend the birth of his son.
At the end, TMZ confirmed that Petty pleaded guilty and was sentenced in July 2022 to one year of house arrest and three years of probation, plus a $55,000 fine.
Is Nicki Minaj Expecting Baby #2?
Nicki Minaj has given us many empowering quotes about the importance of self-love and knowing your true worth, but since giving birth, she’s also become a source for great motherhood quotes.
For one thing, she’s repeatedly called the arrival of her son, nicknamed Papa Bear, the “best thing that’s ever happened to me” and the “ultimate blessing of the universe.” But he not only gives her endless joy, he also makes her a better human being. As she told James Corden, “I think motherhood made me see more good in people, see more good in the universe, made you a little more forgiving person.”
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Given how much Minaj loves being a mom and the fact that she would have liked to have three children by 2020, fans are vigilantly looking for signs that she is pregnant with baby #2.
In July 2022, during an Instagram Live, the rapper sent her followers into a frenzy when she mixed up two little words and gave people the wrong idea. “I’m not fat, guys, I’m pregnant,” she said before catching herself and clarifying, “I think I said it wrong. I meant, I’m not pregnant, I’m fat.
Why Nicki Minaj is so secretive about her baby boy
One thing is clear: Nicki Minaj puts her son above everything else. She took time off from her career to focus on motherhood (just like she said) and she’s not about to apologize for it. When a fan tweeted in September 2021 that he was sad Minaj hadn’t made a public appearance in over a year, she clapped, writing, “I have a baby without nannies during COVID. Who crazy? Do not risk your health to be seen.
Minaj, who has openly said she doesn’t want to hire a nanny, works hard to be the best parent she can be and that includes allowing her son to grow up out of the limelight and out of the public eye. .
Experts say it’s a wonderful approach and something all parents should consider, not just those in Hollywood. Whether you’re an A-lister or not, a child’s privacy is an important thing to consider. Yes, it’s tempting to show them off, but it can have very real and very lasting effects on their future.
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As Techloris CEO Shayne Sherman put it Daderly, “Technically speaking, whenever you upload a photo to a social networking site, they own the right to use those images in any way they see fit.” This means “they can sell it to advertisers and make a profit themselves without needing anything from you.”
Moreover, according to a report published by the UK Commissioner for Children, “information gathered about a child today could jeopardize their future, potentially affecting the offer of a place at university, a job or financial products (such as insurance or credit)”. It can also expose them to identity theft.
Add to that the epidemic of criticism and shaming online and Nicki Minaj’s (rare) decision to stay as private as possible can teach us all an important lesson. Even those who don’t have children.
While the temptation to post every little detail of our lives is greater than ever – “Pictures or it didn’t happen” – it’s actually an unhealthy trend that can have disastrous impacts on privacy, mental health and our ability to be aware and live in the present. Yes, Minaj still posts on her social accounts and uses them to connect with fans, but she’s picky about what she shares and keeps most of her family life private. It’s a healthy balance to inspire us all.