WATCH: Nicki Minaj gives speech to independent women at Wireless Festival.
According to Insider, the Nassau County Police Department confirmed that Robert Maraj, Nicki’s father, had died on Saturday, the 13th of February.
Maraj was walking on a road in Mineola, Long Island, at about 6pm on Friday when he was struck by a car heading northbound. Shortly after he was taken into hospital, when he was classified in critical condition, and died.
The driver, who fled the scene shortly after the incident occurred, has not been identified. Authorities have asked the public to come forward if they have any information that can be used in tracking them down, although noted that the vehicle fled the scene too quickly for witnesses on the scene to get a description.
Nicki Minaj, 38, has yet to comment publicly on her father’s death—and tbh, she can process it however she wants and needs to—but a representative for the Barbie Princess of Rap confirmed his death to Daily Mail.
“My condolences to Nicki Minaj and her family,” wrote one fan on Twitter. “Robert Maraj, rest in peace. Nicki Minaj is one of the strongest women ever, especially after all she’s been through—there’s no doubt in that. I hope they find peace. Sending love and prayers to the Maraj family.”
The heartbreaking news comes four months after the Starships rapper welcomed her first child 😔. Minaj, real name Onika Tanya Maraj, was born in Trinidad and raised in New York City. Her parents moved to the United States from Trinidad when she was five years old.
Nicki Minaj has spoken about her relationship with her father Robert Maraj before, posting photos of the pair smiling and embracing. In 2015, after admitting she experienced domestic violence in her childhood home, she clarified that he was never personally abusive to her.
“No, he was just abusive,” she told The New York Times. “I would always hear him yelling and cursing, always. And it made me feel it was the way to interact, because that’s how I saw him interacting.”
