Nicki Minaj on Importance of Marrying Someone Who Knew Her Before the Fame

Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty, who first met as teenagers, were married in 2019 and now share a child together.

November 9, 2023

nicki minaj performing — Image via Getty/Christopher Polk/Variety

With a long-awaited new album now firmly on the horizon, Nicki Minaj is opening up about her personal life, including her marriage to Kenneth Petty.

As fans know, Minaj and Petty, who first met each other as teenagers before falling out of touch for years, were married in 2019 and now share a child together.

In a Vogue cover story interview with writer Rob Haskell, Minaj reflected on the importance of being with someone who knew her before she became famous worldwide for her music. Due to their shared history, Minaj explained, “there’s an ease” between them both that might not be possible otherwise.

“We make each other laugh," Minaj said of her and Petty's relationship. "We’re silly. And we’re always reminiscing about some old story. If it was a guy that I met as Nicki Minaj, I think I’d feel like they liked me because I’m Nicki Minaj, and what if I don’t look like Nicki Minaj every day? And that, combined with pregnancy, would probably have made me crazy.”

Still, having a baby together brought with it some unique challenges. In fact, Minaj said, “things got testy” between them at some points along the journey of parenthood.

“Because of our history, I think we knew we’d get past it,” she added.

The full interview, of course, also sees Minaj discussing Pink Friday 2, out next month. This time around, Minaj said she made a conscious effort to get back to “the old game plan” after looking back at some of her music and thinking, in her own words, “Where was the me in it?”