Nicki Minaj broke her silence over her father’s passing, Robert Maraj, on May 13 by sharing a statement she sent out to her fans subscribed to her mailing list alongside the many things she’s been up to following her hiatus from social media. The rapper previously informed her Barbz that they would be getting a “dope letter” at mark 7:33 of her Instagram Live aired the same day. 

Minaj said while mentioning how she can’t bring herself to discuss his passing publicly, “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. 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 and will be missed.” 

Maraj was killed on Feb. 12 following a hit-and-run accident in New York. The 64-year-old, who was hospitalized and later succumbed to his injuries the following day, was walking down a roadway when he was struck by a vehicle driven by suspect Charles Polevich. Polevich,70, later turned himself in on Feb. 17 and was charged with leaving the scene of an auto accident and tampering with evidence. A month following Maraj’s death, the rapper’s mother Carol Maraj filed a $150 million civil suit against the driver.

Many fans showed the “No Frauds” lyricist love and support as she paid tribute to her father. 

“Losing a parent is a pain that hurts so deep. Time doesn’t make it better, only easier to deal with. I hope she finds some sense of peace with the loss of her father. ”

“Praying for her. She’ll be alright she just needs time. Thank you for still feeding your fans through it all .”

“ Love you Onika .”

Earlier in the evening, the rapper hosted an Instagram Live where she revealed she would be releasing her mixtape “Beam Me Up Scotty” on all streaming platforms in honor of the tape’s 12th anniversary.

She said, “This is the 12th year anniversary of Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape, and a lot of you have been with me for so freaking long, repping me, holding me down when I’m not around. Yall be going hard for me love you to death. So because this is the 12th year anniversary we thought we would do something special. I have never ever in life put my mixtapes on streaing services…So what we are doing tonight is we are putting Beam Me Up Scotty for the first time ever on streaming services.”

Nicki Minaj teased new music earlier this week before releasing her “Beam Me Up Scotty” mixtape to all streaming services in honor of the tape’s 12th anniversary. Photo:@nickiminaj/Instagram

She added there were a couple of songs that didn’t make the cut for “whatever reason.” In addition to the initial songs on the mixtape, Minaj also added a few “new joints” as well, including “Fractions, “Seeing Green” featuring Drake and Lil Wayne and “Crocodile Tears (Remix)” with Skillibeng.”

Earlier this week, Minaj teased new music by posting photos on her Instagram page, including her May 12 upload, which read, “Btchs act like they want action, heard they want action, btch we aint duckin no action. I’m bout to giv ’em dat traction, send a distraction— then ima line ’em like FRACTIONS. Friday.”