Nicki Minaj says her desire to succeed in the music industry comes from her tough childhood.
Nicki Minaj is motivated by making a better life for her mother.
The 26-year-old rapper - who moved from Trinidad to the US at the age of five - admits living in a three-bedroom home with 15 other people and then seeing her father fall victim to drug and alcohol abuse made her determined to "kick ass" with her music.
She said: "In Trinidad we didn't have much. Then my parents moved to the States and then they sent for me, and I thought everything was going to be great.
"But my father fell victim to drug and alcohol abuse, so it was an uphill battle for a very, very long time. He was really, really addicted. My mother had to make ends meet the best way she knew how.
"Really, when I talk about my life in records like 'I'm The Best' I'm just saying, 'Hey, after all of this, here's what I've accomplished.' "What motivated me was that I wanted to get my mother out of her situation, so I always wanted to kick ass at whatever I did."
Nicki admits her difficult upbringing has made her a "very aggressive" person because she has always had to stand up for herself but she has since learned how to control her behaviour.
She added: "It has made me a very aggressive person. I always heard lots of yelling, fighting and cussing. It made me a very reactive person.
"I've been learning how to tone that down a bit. I've been learning how to say, 'OK, cool, I gotta think things through, I can't always react.'"
The Barbershop gang are back once again. Having had to team up with Angie's ladies...
While the story isn't particularly original, and the movie tends to drift over the top...
One woman thinks she's on a roll with the first serious boyfriend she's had in...
Sid, Manny and Diego are doing a good job so far of surviving the Ice...