Nicki Minaj’s Dad Robert Maraj: What to Know

Nicki Minaj’s father, Robert Maraj, was killed this weekend after being involved in a hit-and-run accident in New York Friday. The “Starships” rapper’s dad was 64. The Nassau County Police Department confirmed Maraj’s death to CBS News, saying in a news release that Maraj was struck by a car Friday evening while walking on a road in Mineola, New York.

Police say Maraj was walking in the roadway on Roslyn Road at the intersection of Raff Avenue around 6 p.m. when he was struck by a vehicle heading north. The unidentified vehicle fled the scene of the crash and has not yet been identified by law enforcement. Authorities are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. Maraj was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead the following day, according to the press release. Homicide detectives are investigating the hit-and-run but have yet to apprehend a suspect.

Minaj has yet to comment about her father’s death, last posting on Instagram a selfie with Blac Chyna on Jan. 9. Minaj’s relationship with her father has been complicated throughout the years, but the two were photographed together recently at a number of events following a difficult early life for the musician. Born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad and raised in Queens, Minaj has been open over the years about her father’s issues with substance abuse and alleged domestic violence incidents from her childhood.

In November 2010, Minaj told Wendy Williams of her father, a financial executive and part-time gospel singer, “He did burn the house down. It wasn’t an attempt — he did! My mother was in the house and she had to run out at the last time.” She continued at the time that her mother had a premonition that something would happen and possibly saved the life of her two kids. “She had a dream the night before that the house was going to be burned down so she had me and my brother sleep at a friend’s house,” Minaj recounted.

The same year, Minaj told The Sun, “All of my young and teenage early years we lived in fear that my mother would be killed by my father. It was ridiculous. My father was violent — physically and verbally. Once my older brother grew up he became the man of the house and started standing up to my father.”

“When I first came to America,” she continued of her drive to succeed at a young age, “I would go in my room and kneel down at the foot of my bed and pray that God would make me rich so that I could take care of my mother.”