Super Bass singer Nicki Minaj has opened up about struggling with ‘fear and anxiety’ since becoming a mum to her two-year-old son.
In an interview with E! Nicki explained that she feels like her “heart is being ripped out” when she has to leave her toddler at home while she travels for work.
“I’m very attached to my son. I remember being in the UK and just bawling. And when I try to FaceTime him, I get more sad. So, I try to hold out on FaceTiming him because to then put the phone down is so difficult”.
The 39-year-old revealed that she has never had a nanny, meaning leaving her son so she can go and work brought on her “fear and anxiety”.
“I’m a Trinidadian woman. Culturally, we’re not really used to nannies and strangers taking care of the babies. It’s not a bad thing when moms do it. It’s just that I have to get conditioned”.
She continued, “I have to get it out of my mind that it’s a weird thing, because there are tons of celebrities that are doing it and they’re raising amazing children”.
The Anaconda singer says that mums often feel anxious because they feel the need to be ‘perfect’, which makes her feel even more worried when she leaves her son, who she has nicknamed Papa Bear, to work on her music career.
“I think moms feel like they have to be perfect. I hate that I have more anxiety now because you’re like, ‘What if the one time I leave my child, I get that phone call?’”.
Nicki calls her son “the light of my world”, and reveals she wants to give him siblings in the future, as she would feel ‘guilty’ if he was an only child.
“I do want to have more. Not at this moment, but I don’t want to deprive my son of siblings. Having siblings, it causes you to have problem management skills early on in life”.
“I would feel guilty if I didn’t give Papa Bear another sibling or two”, the rapper added.
Nicki welcomed her son into the world at the end of September 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdowns, with her husband Kenneth Petty.
