Nicki Minaj with her late father Robert Maraj. Picture: Twitter
International rap superstar Nicki Minaj has suffered a tragic loss.
It has been reported by CNN that her father was killed in a hit-and-run collision. Police confirmed in a statement that Robert Maraj, 64, was walking in Mineola, Long Island, New York and was struck by a vehicle on Friday evening.
He was taken to the hospital in a critical condition and died on Saturday. Police department are investigating the homicide.
Minaj welcomed her first child with husband Kenneth Petty last year.
The award-winning rapper, real name Onika Tanya Maraj, was born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago.
Her parents then moved to the US and she joined them at the age of five, growing up in the New York City borough of Queens.
Minaj has previously rapped about her troubled upbringing. She claimed that her father was a “violent” drug addict and abusive. In a Rolling Stone interview in 2010, she said she would pray to God to make her rich so that she could take care of her mother.
Reports of his passing first surfaced on Facebook from Nicki’s aunt.
Condolences poured in for the Maraj family.
Compiled by Sandisiwe Mbhele
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