Who Are Nicki Minaj's Parents? All About Robert and Carol Maraj

Nicki Minaj has always had the support of her parents, Robert and Carol Maraj, despite her hardship-filled upbringing.

Before rising to fame in the music industry, the "Your Love" rapper endured a difficult time during her childhood. When Nicki was 3, Robert and Carol immigrated from Trinidad to the U.S. and left her behind with her grandmother. Her parents returned two years later to take her and her siblings to their new home in South Jamaica, Queens, where the rapper grew up.

"Every time my parents fought, my mother would have us move and I would have to go to a new school, which meant I'd have to face the task of making new friends," she told Teen Vogue. "I dreaded it. I had butterflies in my stomach each time: Are people going to like or hate me? Will they talk about me?"

The "Starships" singer, as a little girl, witnessed domestic violence in their family home.

In her documentary Queen, Nicki discussed instances she would instinctively reach out to defend her mother from her father.

"Maybe some people would describe me as abrasive or b----- or whatever because I vowed from that age no man would ever abuse me, call me out my name or treat me like that," she said as she became emotional. "Then all of a sudden that was my life."

Nicki appeared to have inherited her vocal skills from her mother, who is a gospel singer.

"I sang all the time when they were young while I was doing my dishes," the matriarch said of singing around her children. "When they heard me sing, they would just leave whatever they were doing upstairs and run down to the kitchen. They always say they miss singing around the house."

Her hit songs include "What Makes You," "Endless" and "I'm Free."

In a June 2014 interview with The Christian Post, Carol disclosed Nicki would always call her to receive her prayers whenever she had a problem.

"My life as a Christian and believer was opened to Onika," Carol said. "As her career continued to thrive, she developed more concerns about life. She knew I believed in the power of prayer, therefore, she constantly called me and our pastor, to pray for different concerns she may have."

As a survivor of domestic abuse herself, Carol later turned her experiences into inspiration to launch the Carol Maraj Foundation, a nonprofit that helps other women going through similar issues.

"Me being a survivor of domestic violence, I started to think a lot about other women," she shared on PeopleTV. "I started feeling a burden for them. The next step was I visited some shelters to speak with them and get a feel for what's going on."

She added, "After hearing so many different stories that really brought a lot of tears, we sat around the table and there were just tears, I was moved to start the foundation."

Carol also told The Christian Post the "ultimate goal" is "to be financially independent to meet all of these needs and more."

Nicki's father struggled with substance abuse for much of his life. When the epidemic hit New York City in the 1980s, the patriarch went from smoking weed to consuming crack cocaine.

According to Nicki, her father was often absent, only returning to sleep sometimes or to take items from their house to buy drugs or alcohol. She also described Robert as being violent toward Carol.

He eventually went to rehab and "cleaned himself up."

"Eventually they started going to church a lot, and he got saved and started changing his life," she told The Guardian in 2012. "He's away from drugs now. He doesn't instill fear in people anymore."

OK! learned Robert died after being involved in a hit-and-run accident while walking along the road between Roslyn Road and Raff Avenue on February 12, 2021. He was 64 at the time.

Authorities later cuffed then-70-year-old Charles Polevich for leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with physical evidence.

One month later, Carol filed a $150 million lawsuit at the Nassau County Supreme Court, claiming Charles was careless and reckless when he allegedly struck Robert and left him at the scene.

"Tho I can't really bring myself to discuss the passing of my father as yet; I can say it has been the most devastating loss of my life," Nicki wrote on her website in May 2021. "I find myself wanting to call him all the time. More so now that he's gone. Life is funny that way. May his soul rest in paradise. He was very loved & will be very missed."

Over a year after the arrest, the driver pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year behind bars. His license was also suspended for six months, and he was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.