Photo Credit: Nicki Minaj/Instagram
Rapper Nicki Minaj lost her father in one of the worst possible ways this weekend. While walking in Long Island in Mineola, he was hit Friday night at 6:15 pm by a “northbound, undescribed, vehicle that left the scene of the accident,” as described by the Nassau County Police Department in a statement. It occurred while her dad, Robert Maraj was in the intersection of Roslyn Road and Raff Avenue before being taken to the hospital and passing Saturday, February 13th. Those who may have knowledge of what happened are being asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
While Minaj, whose real name is Onika Maraj hasn’t publicly spoken on his death yet, the two have been known to have a strained relationship. In 2012 she described him as “an alcoholic and a drug addict” and said he even tried to burn down a family home of theirs with her mother inside at the time. In a 2018 Glamour UK interview she began crying saying “I remember when my mother would let my father be violent with her and she always brings up this story about when I was a little girl, and I would stand in front of my mother [with my arms open].” They moved to Queens from Trinidad for a better life which didn’t exactly go as expected.
She told Rolling Stone in 2010 “When I first came to America, I would go in my room and kneel down at the foot of my bed and pray that God would make me rich so that I could take care of my mother. Because I always felt like if I took care of my mother, my mother wouldn’t have to stay with my father, and he was the one at the time, that was bringing us pain. We didn’t want him around at all, and so I always felt like being rich would cure everything, and that was always what drove me.”
It isn’t clear if the two have repaired their relationship but we’re praying so. And even if not, either way, this is one of the worst ways to lose a loved one. Most are concerned about their elders catching covid and to escape that but be hit by a car is just terrible. Our prayers go out to Nicki Minaj and her family.
