Did Nicki Minaj talk about retiring? Story behind rapper's 2019 tweet explored

Nicki Minaj is a celebrated rapper. Besides her music and the wealth she has acquired in her career, it's Minaj’s loyal fandom of Barbz that makes her a true success.

As the most popular and most followed rapper on Instagram, Nicki has built a unique relationship with the Barbz and often interacts with them during Live sessions.

This is why it came as a shock to the Barbz when the Pink Friday rapper announced that she was planning to retire in 2019. On September 5, 2019, Minaj wrote in a since-deleted tweet:

"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."

With the post sending the Barbz into a frenzy, Nicki Minaj later took it down and clarified her intention behind it in an interview.

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Nicki Minaj said her retirement tweet was about her fifth album

In an interview with The Shade Room on October 21, 2019, Nicki Minaj opened up about her deleted retirement tweet, saying:

“When I posted that retirement tweet, I knew that I still had music that I already had recorded that was still going to come out. So the retirement was kind of talking about my album, meaning like, ‘Do I want to go back and record my fifth album?'”

When prompted about where she stood with the retirement, the Hey Mama rapper clarified that it was just about her fifth album, adding:

“Where do I stand with it now? I didn’t know my fans would act like that with the tweet. It hurt my feelings because I feel like the way I did it was maybe insensitive to my fans. But I didn’t think people were going to take it — I didn’t know it was going to be that big of a deal, so that’s why I deleted it.”

In a Billboard interview on December 12, 2019, when the subject of the rapper retiring and starting a family was brought up, Nicki Minaj admitted that she didn't see herself "taking [herself] completely away," but wanted to be open to other possibilities in her life. She added:

"I do believe it is important to become a woman outside of the magnifying glass. I have to make sure that I’m well-rounded as a human being."

While the Starships rapper admitted to having completed work on her fifth album in 2019, it took her four more years to finally release Pink Friday 2. Dropped on December 8, 2023, Minaj's album quickly found its spot at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, earning over 228,000 album-equivalent units in its first week alone.

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Minaj also talked about not "wanting a big wedding" anymore

Elsewhere in her interview with The Shade Room, Nicki Minaj also addressed her upcoming marriage with Kenneth Petty, saying:

“We’ll definitely do the paperwork portion of the marriage, but the actual wedding, I don’t know.

The Anaconda rapper continued:

"You know when you’re a little girl and you want this big beautiful wedding, and I used to think I was one of those girls, I always wanted the fairytale. But then the things that used to matter to you don’t matter as much.”

The Young Money MC tied the knot with Kenneth Petty on October 21, 2019, and announced she was pregnant with her first child nine months later, in July 2020. Petty and Minaj welcomed their son on September 30, 2020.

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Following the release and success of Pink Friday 2, Nicki Minaj announced its accompanying tour, which kicked off in March 2024 and will conclude in New York on October 11.