Nicki Minaj Said Writing Got Much Harder After Having Her Son: ‘My Brain Felt Way Different’
In 2020, Nicki Minaj gave birth to her son. Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, only have one child, and the rapper said he fundamentally changed her life. She believes her son, whom she calls Papa Bear, changed her for the better, but she said having him also altered her creative process. She admitted that writing music wasn’t as easy after having a child.
Nicki Minaj felt like her brain changed after she had her son
After Minaj gave birth to her son, she found that writing didn’t come as easily to her. She realized she was dealing with writer’s block.
“I had writer’s block after having my son,” she told Vogue. “The song ‘Seeing Green,’ featuring Drake and Wayne, is the first song that I wrote and completed after having the baby. I was so scared, because not one thing could come to me for months and months.”
She said that nothing she wrote felt right to her. It took a long time to put the song together.
“I kept sending Drake different verses, and he and I would both be like, ‘it’s missing this, or it’s missing that,’” she said. “Then I ended up finally getting a verse that he and I loved — but it was very, very challenging. I didn’t know that after you have a baby, things that came so naturally to you could change. My brain felt so different.”
She said that her son has taught her to feel grateful for her life and writing.
“When I see him, he’s just so sweet, so I have no choice but to light up when I see him,” she said. “I needed to learn to be grateful. Once I stopped all of that worrying, I was able to finally write my last album, and complete it to my standards and feel like it was great enough for my fans. Whatever you do in life, the moment you let go, it’s the moment that everything comes to you.”
Nicki Minaj said she feels like she changed for the better after having her son
While the writer’s block rattled Minaj, she also feels that having a child changed her for the better.
“I think motherhood has made me see more good in people, more good in the universe,” she said on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
She said that having a child has made her feel immense gratitude. She noted that not everyone who wants a child is able to have one.
“When I look at my son, I’m reminded that I am so blessed,” she said. “I realized, for so many women, this is their dream. Their dream is to have a child and not everybody gets that blessing. So when you have a little baby, you are reminded every day like, ‘Oh my God. Thank you God for this little gift.’”
She hasn’t revealed his name publicly
When Minaj discusses her son publicly, she refers to him as Papa Bear. This is not his real name. She still has not told her fans her son’s name.
Still, Minaj admitted that she’d originally planned to call her child Ninja. She changed her mind at the last minute.
