Nicki Minaj has welcomed her first child with 42-year-old husband Kenneth Petty.
The Anaconda singer gave birth on Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to a report from TMZ. The site shared that the gender of the child and the name have not yet been made available.
The 37-year-old performer announced in late July she was ‘preggers’ and has since shared many photos of her baby bump on social media.
To announce her pregnancy, Nicki uploaded a snapshot of herself and Kenneth to her Instagram page on July 20.
In the post, Nicki cradled her full baby belly while dolled up wearing a curly yellow wig, embellished bikini, and sparkling platform heels, writing: ”#Preggers [yellow heart emoji].’
Nicki shared a more introspective caption in another post, writing: ‘Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement & gratitude. Thank you all for the well wishes.’
Rumors that the rapper was expecting have been swirling around since before she and Petty wed in 2019.
Prior to their marriage Nicki shocked fans by announcing she was retiring from music to start a family.
‘I’ve decided to retire & have my family. I know you guys are happy now. To my fans, keep reppin me, do it til da death of me … Love you for LIFE,’ she tweeted in September 2019.
She later walked back her statement while responding to a fan’s tweet.
‘I’m still right here. Still madly in love with you guys & you know that. In hindsight, this should’ve been a Queen Radio discussion & it will be. I promise u guys will be happy. No guests, just us talking about everything. The tweet was abrupt & insensitive, I apologize babe.’
Her husband was likely by her side during the delivery as in August it was reported that Petty was allowed to travel with Minaj ‘periodically on business trips as her manager,’ which will ensure he is present when she goes into labor.
Other pretrial conditions will stay in place, meaning Petty cannot use illicit substances and he will continue to wear an ankle monitor.
Petty is currently awaiting trial after being arrested for failing to register as a sex offender when he moved to California to be with the Move Ya Hips rapper.
He submitted a request to alter his pretrial release conditions, which only allowed him to travel within California, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
Petty told the judge at the time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and pretrial services had no objections to the request, but still needed a judge’s approval.
Kenneth was required to register as a sex offender in California because he was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in 1995.
In March he was arrested by Federal authorities for failing to register. Shortly after, he pleaded not guilty and was released on a $100k bond.
