Before her ascent in the music world, the Your Love rapper faced a challenging childhood. At the age of 3, Nicki’s parents, Robert and Carol, moved from Trinidad to the U.S., leaving her with her grandmother. They returned two years later to bring Nicki and her siblings to their new residence in South Jamaica, Queens, where she was raised.
Nicki shared with Teen Vogue that frequent relocations due to her parents’ conflicts meant she often changed schools. “I dreaded it,” she admitted. “Each time, I was anxious: Will people like or dislike me? Will they talk about me?”
The Starships performer experienced domestic violence in her childhood home.
In her documentary Queen, Nicki recounted moments when she would instinctively try to protect her mother from her father.
“Some might label me as abrasive or b—–, but I promised myself from an early age that no man would ever mistreat me, insult me, or handle me that way,” she said, her voice filled with emotion. “Then suddenly, that became my reality.”
