Nicki Minaj Announces She’s Retiring, But Historical Context Begs to Differ
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Nicki Minaj is walking away from the music game, according to Nicki Minaj. “I’ve decided to retire & have my family,” Nicki wrote on Twitter. “I know you guys are happy now. To my fans, keep reppin me, do it til da death of me.” The widespread implication from Barbz and the majority of social media is that Minaj is forgoing the release of new music in favor of building a family.
In a 2018 Wonderland cover story, Minaj shared that motherhood was around the corner for her. “I’ve got to get married first then I’ll have a child. I might be closer than people think actually,” Nicki said. “I love children. I’m not going to put that off for much longer.”
The likelihood of Minaj permanently retiring from music, though, is dubious. Historically, a premature retirement announcement is a classic late stage career move for many hip-hop artists. The most infamous case is Jay-Z dedicating an entire album run to quitting music, only to re-emerge three years later with Kingdom Come. 50 Cent famously claimed he would retire if his 2007 Curtis album didn’t outsell Kanye West’s Graduation. Since then, nearly every high-profile rapper of the last decade — Lil Wayne, Childish Gambino, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert — has claimed they were getting out of music. Spoiler Alert: Every single one of those musicians has yet to retire.
Considering that Nicki is experiencing a recent hit in Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer” and is quickly becoming the queen of podcast beef, it doesn’t seem like she will be gone — completely, at least — for long. Nevertheless, she does deserve a massive vacation.
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