BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 1, 2023--

Nicki Minaj has opened up about her feelings of anxiety after becoming a new mother. The rapper, 40, is the latest Vogue cover star for the magazine’s December 2023 issue. Speaking to the publication, Minaj shared many details about her ongoing motherhood journey, after she and husband Kenneth Petty welcomed their son in 2020. Minaj and Petty, who were married in 2019, were formerly high school sweethearts and grew up together in the same neighbourhood in Queens, New York. The “Superbass” singer explained how Petty was unfazed by her level of fame, and noted that he even calls her by her real name - Onika Tanya Maraj. “Because I’ve known my husband for so long, there’s an ease we have with each other,” she told Vogue. “We make each other laugh. We’re silly. And we’re always reminiscing about some old story. If it was a guy that I met as Nicki Minaj, I think I’d feel like they liked me because I’m Nicki Minaj, and what if I don’t look like Nicki Minaj every day? And that, combined with pregnancy, would probably have made me crazy.” The pair welcomed their son, who Minaj has nicknamed “Papa Bear” on social media in order to keep his privacy, on 30 September 2020. The “Barbie World” rapper admitted that she and Petty struggled with their relationship after becoming a family of three, much like many couples do when they become new parents. “I’m not going to lie, things got testy between us. Because of our history, I think we knew we’d get past it. But there’s no such thing as confidence in parenthood,” she explained, before recalling the amount of anxiety she felt after becoming a mother. “I kind of wish that someone had told me - although I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to understand it - that there’s a level of anxiety, and you think it’s going to go away, but in fact it gets scarier,” Minaj added. “So often you think: I don’t know how to do this!” Minaj’s highly-anticipated fifth studio album, Pink Friday 2, is due for release on 8 December. The “Starships” singer previously told her millions of fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she had “decided to retire and have my family” just one month before she and Petty were married. However, the Grammy nominee soon realised that the studio was still calling her name - even if that meant needing to balance her family life with her professional career. “I think that deep down inside, I believed that once I had a family, I would just lose the desire to make music,” Minaj told Vogue. “I would always tell people: ‘Watch, when I have a child I’m going to cook every meal for him and bake cookies every day.’ Maybe subconsciously I hoped my focus would just be on being a mother, and I looked forward to that idea. It felt like a relief. But what happens is that you find out you have to work.” This isn’t the first time Minaj has opened up about feeling anxiety as a new mother. In an interview with E! News published in October 2022, the rapper revealed that she often feels like her “heart is being ripped out” when she is away from her now-three-year-old son. “I hate that I have more anxiety now because you’re like: ‘What if the one time I leave my child, I get that phone call?’” she said at the time. “I think moms feel like they have to be perfect.” Minaj then recalled when she was in the United Kingdom and started “bawling” over being away from her son. “And when I try to FaceTime him, I get more sad,” she said. “So, I try to hold out on FaceTiming him because to then put the phone down is so difficult.” The “Super Freaky Girl” rapper shared that she and Petty have never hired a nanny to take care of their baby. “I’m a Trinidadian woman,” she said. “Culturally, we’re not really used to nannies and strangers taking care of the babies. “It’s not a bad thing when moms do it. It’s just that I have to get conditioned. I have to get it out of my mind that it’s a weird thing, because there are tons of celebrities that are doing it and they’re raising amazing children.” Back in September 2020, Minaj announced the birth of her son by posting several photographs of handwritten notes from her celebrity friends congratulating her on the baby news. One of the pictures in the post featured a note from Beyoncé, which read: “Onika, welcome to motherhood. God bless you and your family. B.” “Thank you to Queen B, Kim & Ye, Riccardo Tisci, Winnie, Karol and everyone who sent well wishes during this time. It meant the world to me,” Minaj captioned her post. “I am so grateful and in love with my son. Madly in love. My favorite liddo boy in the whole wide world.” Read More How much water should we be drinking in a day? Irina Shayk reveals how she and Bradley Cooper make co-parenting daughter Lea ‘work’ What is silent reflux? How much water should we be drinking in a day? Irina Shayk reveals how she and Bradley Cooper make co-parenting daughter Lea ‘work’ What is silent reflux?

I come bearing bad news that is, unfortunately, just so incredibly predictable I find myself

When you chow down on a banana, you might often see a black bit at the end and it looks a bit gross. But what is it? Some people think it is the seed, but these are found down the middle, if at all, as the Cavendish variety of bananas, which is commonly sold typically doesn’t produce any seeds. It is actually something completely different. Bananas are technically berries and the black bit is the nub of the flower from which the giant banana berry grew. Bananas grow on trees in bunches, and the end is actually the top of the fruit while the hard stalk is the bottom. But given most people eat bananas by snapping off the stalk first, the residual flower nub is left at the end. This black bit is entirely edible but people often throw it away because it has a tough texture and a bitter taste. So now you know, there is nothing stopping you from getting one of your five a day. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Zoom is now making its AI personal assistant tool available to paid accounts "at no

Let’s hear it for the humble Mary Jane — dare we say, the most versatile shoe style out there? Are you a chunky platform girlie or do you prefer something soft, sleek and feminine? Do you like to rise to stacked heights or stand comfortably in a ballet pump style? Either way, you’re covered. She’s preppy, she’s Parisian, she’s even kinda punk when styled a certain way. From '60s mods to '90s grunge, indie sleaze to the recent stompy Nodaleto craze, it's no wonder the trend comes around so often.

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Max Verstappen believes his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez crashed out of the Mexican Grand Prix because he was overexcited by the prospect of finishing on the podium at his home race. Perez tried to brake last as he arrived on the inside of the first bend alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the centre and Verstappen on the outside. His Red Bull slammed into Leclerc and leapt into the air before coming down in the run-off area. He managed to crawl round to the pitlane, and Red Bull mechanics soon had him back on the road, but they threw in the towel after only five more laps. Verstappen went on to win his 51st race as Perez watched on from the garage. “I mean, I understand because it’s his home Grand Prix,” Verstappen said, assessing the crash. “You want to be on the podium, I fully understand that. “He went around the outside, and he tried. Looking at the footage, I think he could have left a little bit more space, but at the other end if it would have worked, you know, you look amazing. And of course, I think it’s just more like that excitement of wanting to be on the podium and this time it didn’t work out, unfortunately.” Verstappen added: “At the time, I didn’t really see a lot. At one point, I just saw that a car was a bit flying in the air, but then I saw the footage after the race and then you can comment on it. But while driving it’s a bit hard because I was mainly focusing on Charles, because I couldn’t see what was happening on the outside.” Perez’s position at Red Bull has come under scrutiny in recent weeks and his performance in Mexico will only have added to speculation that his seat may be going to Daniel Ricciardo next season. Perez last won a race in Azerbaijan on 30 April, and his failure to finish at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez leaves his second place in the championship under threat from Hamilton. Indeed, the seven-time world champion reduced the gap from 39 points to 20 with his strong display. TOP-10 - MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX 1) Max Verstappen 2) Lewis Hamilton (+ fastest lap) 3) Charles Leclerc 4) Carlos Sainz 5) Lando Norris 6) George Russell 7) Daniel Ricciardo 8) Oscar Piastri 9) Alex Albon 10) Esteban Ocon Perez told DAZN after the race: “I’m sad without a doubt because today was my opportunity. I had a very good start and I was only thinking of winning the race. I didn’t want to be on the podium. I’ve been on the podium two years in a row. “I saw the opportunity and I went for it. In hindsight, I took a risk, but if I had pulled it off I would have come out of Turn 1 in the lead. I didn’t expect Charles to brake so late since he was the car in the middle. He had a lot less margin than Max, who was on the inside, and I was the one who could brake the latest because I was on the outside.” Read More Christian Horner drops Daniel Ricciardo hint as pressure mounts on Sergio Perez Kevin Magnussen’s car catches fire after high-speed crash in Mexico F1 fan banned for life after attacking Ferrari supporters in Mexico

Well, at least you can't say the new Super Mario Bros. game looks boring. Announced

Gelje, who was guiding a client to the 8,849-meter (29,032 feet) summit, made a decision: they would abandon their journey in a bid to save the Malaysian climber.

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 22, 2023--