What did Nicki Minaj's dad do? Rapper spoke to her father hours before he was killed in a hit-and-run

Nicki Minaj was born in Trinidad and Tobago and immigrated to New York with her family when she was five. Robert Maraj, her father, was a financial executive and part-time gospel singer. He was also a drug addict and had joined a rehabilitation center in 2012 to recover from it.

Maraj was killed in a hit-and-run accident in February 2021, as he was crossing a street in Long Island. However, the Truffle Butter rapper didn't publicly acknowledge her father's loss immediately.

Three years later, in a July 2024 Apple Music interview, Nicki opened up about "the most devastating loss" of her life, confessing that her last phone call with her father took place hours before the accident that claimed his life.

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Nicki Minaj revealed her last conversation with her father

In a 2024 Apple Music interview, recalling Nicki Minaj's last phone call with her father, Robert Maraj, she said:

"Normally, I don't answer the phone when I'm with the baby. But I saw that it was my dad and something inside me said, 'answer it'. I answered and he was in a very good mood."

The Only rapper continued:

"He said, 'Honey, can I fly out on Monday? He had been waiting for a long time for the opportunity to come and see me and help me. And I kept insisting, 'Come on, come on over'."

Nicki Minaj revealed that Maraj appeared to be happier than usual over their last call and was eager to meet his grandchild - Minaj's son - for the first time, which was the main reason behind his wanting to visit her.

However, a few hours after the conversation took place, the 41-year-old rapper got another call—from her mother, Carol, this time. Nicki received the news of her father's passing on that phone call.

"She told me she didn't know what was going to happen and that she would call me back. And all of a sudden, everything started to spin. I can't believe how fast it all happened. I hadn't heard him so happy in years," Nicki revealed.

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Nicki was asked to testify in court by the man who killed Robert Maraj

In the days that followed Robert Maraj's accident, Charles Polevich, a 70-year-old man, was charged in the hit-and-run accident and arrested by the Nassau County Police.

In May 2022, Polevich pleaded guilty "to leaving the scene and tampering with evidence" in the Long Island accident. He was sentenced to a year of prison, along with a fine of $5,000, and his driver's license was suspended for six months.

However, Nicki Minaj's mother, Carol, was dissatisfied with the judgment and wanted a longer imprisonment for her husband's killer. She later sued Polevich for $150 million.

In 2024, Polevich's attorney filed a motion for the Super Bass rapper to testify in court, stating:

"My client empathizes with the family. The question of whether there was negligence and degrees of negligence will be determined by the court. The $150 million amount seems to be over the top."

Carol's lawyer, on the other hand, argued against the motion, stating that Nicki Minaj was not a defendant in the case, making her testimony "a waste of time." He also pointed out that dragging the rapper in the lawsuit could be seen as unnecessary "harassment of the family" on Polevich's part.

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Nicki Minaj confessed to having a difficult relationship with her father growing up

Nine years before Robert Maraj's death, Nicki Minaj talked about having a difficult relationship with her father growing up, in a 2012 interview with The Guardian. The High School rapper admitted Maraj to be "an alcoholic and a drug addict" who would often sell their furniture and video games to "fuel his addictions."

When asked if Minaj was scared of him, she commented:

"I was very, very afraid that he would snap. I wasn't afraid for myself but for my mother. He didn't do anything to me or my brother that made us feel we had to fear him."

The rapper continued:

"We moved so many times when I was a kid. We were always running away from him. Whenever we got to a new house, he would find us."

However, despite all that, Nicki revealed that her parents never separated. Maraj cleaned himself up after his time at the rehab, and went to church a lot, saying "he got saved and started changing his life."

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Robert Maraj had been sober for about a decade when he died. The Starships rapper continues to share emotional wishes for him every year on special occasions like his birthday and Father's Day.