Nicki Minaj gives birth to first child with husband Kenneth Petty
Barbie dreams come true: Nicki Minaj is officially a mom.
The rap superstar welcomed her first child with husband Kenneth Petty on Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to multiple outlets. The couple has yet to announce the news themselves or release any further details about the newborn.
Minaj first revealed her pregnancy in a series of gloriously over-the-top, professional photos showing off her baby bump in July.
The rapper captioned one photo “#Preggers” with a yellow heart. “Love. Marriage. Baby carriage,” she wrote under another post. “Overflowing with excitement & gratitude. Thank you all for the well wishes.”
The couple has much to celebrate, as the baby arrived within weeks of their one-year wedding anniversary following nearly a year of dating.
Minaj marked the occasion at the time with an Instagram video of matching “Mr. and Mrs.” mugs and coordinating “Bride” and “Groom” baseball caps.
A month before the two tied the knot, the mogul sent shockwaves through the music community when she announced that she was retiring from the rap game without warning.
“I’ve decided to retire and have my family,” she wrote on Twitter in September 2019. “I know you guys are happy now. To my fans, keep reppin me, do it til da death of me, in the box—cuz ain’t nobody checkin me. Love you for LIFE.”
After an outcry from her fans, Minaj later apologized for the “abrupt” post and has since released a slew of new songs, most recently featuring on A$AP Ferg’s “Move Ya Hips,” which dropped over the summer.
“I’m still right here,” she explained about her shocking post. “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 u guys will be happy. No guests, just us talking about everything. The tweet was abrupt and insensitive, I apologize babe.”
Minaj has long expressed her desire to have a family, previously stating that she believes she was “put here to be a mother.”
“[My biggest fear] is that I’ll become so consumed with work that I’ll forget to live my personal life to the fullest,” she told Complex in 2014: If I’m done with my fifth album and I don’t have a child by then, no matter how much money I have, I would be disappointed, as a woman, because I feel like I was put here to be a mother.
