NICKI MINAJ Stuns Fandom with Sudden ANNOUNCEMENT of Her RETIREMENT

For as early as the mid-2000s the Trinidad and Tobagoan (but Queens-raised) singer-rapper Onika Tanya Maraj has sung and rapped her way to eventual superstardom as the music household name Nicki Minaj. There probably is not a lot of people who have not heard her songs or tried to follow through her awesome raps, and she certainly did her own branching out into other endeavors in entertainment such as live and voice acting as well as “American Idol” judging. Her fans are probably still yet to tire of her 2018 album “Queen,” fourth in her discography. But a Thursday announcement by Minaj has changed things.

TIME tells us that social media and the fandom of Nicki Minaj in general has gone stir crazy following her sudden announcement that she is retiring. The celebrated rapper stunned the internet with a post on her official Twitter page dated Thursday, September 5, where she stated her intention to quit the industry and focus on raising a family. The tweet came several weeks after her other announcement that she and longtime boyfriend Kenneth Petty were getting married later this year. Minaj asked fans to “keep reppin” her after her departure, paraphrasing lines from her 2010 hit song “Super Bass.”

I’ve decided to retire & have my family. 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 😘♥️🦄

— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) September 5, 2019

But while the letter of Nicki’s tweet, and the accompanying emojis, were of a light-hearted nature, her followers were for the most part not in any mood to laugh. Aside from the joke comments there were many who expressed how upset they were on social media, especially considering that Minaj’s retirement announcement comes in the wake of anticipation for what is apparently her follow-up album after “Queen.” Even the timing was odd since the rapper released a non-album single, “Megatron,” just this past June. There was also her dropping in as featured vocals for the Megan Thee Stallion song “Hot Girl Summer” only last month.

In fact, another group of commenters are of the opinion that Nicki Minaj is simply pulling a fast one with the retirement talk. They cite as example her one gag in 2016 where she teased a new album featuring songs with fruit-themed titles, only to be revealed as a hoax. Nevertheless, the vitriol for the possibility that Minaj is walking away upon marrying Ken Petty is such that some fans have launched implied threats against her fiancé, who also happens to have a criminal record for manslaughter and sex offenses.

Then again, Nicki has never turned away from controversy before, with notable 2018 incidents like her fight with Cardi B and her collaboration with rapper 6ix9ine, later convicted for posting online videos of his sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl. Neither she nor her representatives have remarked on her tweet.

Image courtesy of Entertainment Tonight