BELMONT – NICKI MINAJ has shared her life’s story to troubled girls of the St Jude’s Home in Belmont in her native Trinidad.
The American-based rapper who is in Trinidad for Carnival celebrations, took time off to visit the home that accommodate girls sent there by the courts or the Children’s Authority.
Minaj also donated US$25,000 to the home and promised to establish a building for recreational and vocational activities.
At the head table she sat with Police Commissioner Gary Griffith and sought to inspire the girls by telling them of her life’s struggles.
She said she was born in Port-of-Spain and grew up on Bournes Road in St James.
Minaj said she was lost as a teenager. She said, “I have experienced being in a home with domestic violence. I have experienced being at a very difficult crossroad in my life as a teenager.”
She said she did drugs and even hid a teenage pregnancy from her mother.
Minaj admitted to not being proud of doing drugs. She said, “It was during the worst time of my life. It was a very low point and now that I am so crystal clear again, it’s like I see things and hear things that I wasn’t seeing before and that’s the thing about drugs – it clouds you.”
She added, “It’s gonna make you look old and nasty very early in your life so say no to drugs, girls.”
Minaj said when she migrated to the United States things got rocky very fast and her family was on welfare.
She said the motivation for her success came from her wanting to do something better for herself. “That’s what kept pushing me.”
Minaj said she wanted to make her mother proud by buying her a house.
Griffith said there were certain arms of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) that made Minaj’s visit to the home possible.
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