When their parents finally sent for them, Onika began her American adventures in the portentously named borough of Queens in New York City. If anything, however, her start there was far removed from the privileges of royalty. In an interview with the hip-hop website, Illuminati 2G, Minaj described a bit about her home life in Queens, stating, “We didn’t have that much money, so we relied on each other and being on the block so to speak. We had to pass the days away. We definitely weren’t taking any trips or vacations or adventures, none of that type of thing. My mother was very good to us.”
In the years that followed their arrival, Omar Maraj, Onika’s father, developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol and was known to explode into fits of rage.
“We grew up in the ’80s, the crack era. It wasn’t always nice, but I think it was a good experience. We saw a very rough surrounding. For me, I was just always like, ‘I’m gonna’ make it up outta’ here.’ That’s how it was.”
In Nicki's song, “Autobiography,” she discusses a time when her father burned down their house in an attempt to kill her mother.
Daddy was a crack fiend
2 in the morning had us running down the street like a track team
When he burnt the house down n my mother was in it
How could I forget it, the pain infinite.
The same song goes on to describe her feelings towards an abortion she had when she was younger.
Please baby forgive me, mommy was young, mommy was too busy tryna have fun,
now I pat myself on the back for sending you back 'cause God knows I was better than that,
to conceive then leave you, the concept alone seems evil, I'm trapped in my conscience.
It's like I feel it in the air, I hear you sayin' mommy don't cry can't you see I'm right here
I gotta let you know what you mean to me, when I'm sleeping I see you in my dreams with me,
wish I could touch your little face or just hold your little hand
if it's part of God’s plan, maybe we can meet again.”
A large number of people have interpreted the song to be about giving birth to her father's child, but this is not the case. The term “daddy,” which is used elsewhere in the song is a part of the slang expression “baby daddy,” a name given to the father of a child born out of wedlock.