Nicki Minaj Opens Up About Childhood Trauma
In a recent sit down with Jada Pinkett Smith for Interview Magazine, Nicki Minaj detailed how her childhood trauma back in Trinidad affects her life today. Jada began the interview by congratulating Nicki on the birth of her baby boy. She welcomed her baby with her husband Kenneth Petty back in 2020.
“I see myself as a baby in my son and because of that, it reminds me of moments that I had probably forgotten over time, just of me being a toddler in Trinidad,” Nicki said. “First of all, being a mother is the biggest freaking blessing on planet earth. I’m so happy that God allowed me to experience this.”
She continued: “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.”
Nicki’s son, who she calls “Papa Bear,” is about to turn two years old this year. Seeing her baby led the rapper to recall a traumatic time in her life. Specifically, when she was the same age and her family had abandoned her in Trinidad.
“When I was 2 years old, my parents left me in Trinidad,” she said. “Of course, I was very attached to my mother, and in my little toddler mind, I thought I was going to see her the next day. And she was gone for two years, so that’s a big part in my development.”
She continued: “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. I was crying at the side of my mother, and I started begging my cousin, who was a teenager, to come be in the room with me because that’s who I had gotten attached to in the year-and-a-half prior, you know?”
“So I’m reliving all of those things now because I’m afraid that my son will ever feel that I left him for anything, for any reason, and for any amount of time.”
Jada, who is the mother of Willow and Jaden Smith, reassured her that her worries are completely normal. She stressed that wanting to protect your child from your past experiences is a natural response.
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