The Curious Case of Kenneth Petty and Nicki Minaj

Oct 3

Oct 3 The Curious Case of Kenneth Petty and Nicki Minaj

If you are alive and breathing there is a pretty good chance you know about or at least have heard of Nicki Minaj. She is nothing short of iconic in the music industry. Nicki is one of the trailblazers in female rap, and has created a platform based on being bright out of the box and fierce. Nicki Minaj is famous for songs like SuperBass, Anaconda, Starships, Barbitingz, and her claim to fame Itty Bitty Piggy.

Nicki Minaj born Onika Tanya Maraj is an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago. She and her family moved to Queens, New York City when she was a kid. She has an older brother named Jelani and growing up her parents were gospel singers who worked hard to take care of their family. Growing up she lived in a house with her 11 cousins and brother. It wasn’t easy she was mainly raised by her grandmother and her father had addiction problems followed with a venomous temper. Nicki from a young age was talented. She is a rapper, singer and songwriter, and worked hard to perfect her craft. Successfully auditioning for admission to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, which focuses on visual and performing arts. After graduating, Nicki wanted to become an actress, and she was cast in the Off-Broadway play In Case You Forget in 2001.

I think the reason a lot of people love Nicki Minaj, myself included, is because she came from relatable roots. She wasn’t raised with a silver spoon, she knew she had talent and worked hard at it. There was a time despite her talent and education that she worked a regular job like a lot of us. She worked as an office manager, customer service rep, even as a waitress at Red Lobster.

Nicki Minaj’s fame rose in the 2010’s. She was notoriously known for being apart of Young Money a music group and label that Lil Wayne created. Nicki’s career is nothing short of prolific. For the past 10 years she has created chart topping hits with artists like Drake, Eminem, Rihanna, and Beyonce. The list honestly goes on. In that same breath her popularity has taken the masses. Her fans are known as Barbz as she has taken on the barbie persona. Her first known relationship one that started in 2000 and lasted 14 years was with Safaree Samuels a songwriter, their public relationship landed him notierety in his own right. He joined tv shows and made a real name for himself. Her second relationship was with one of the most popular rappers of our generation, Meek Mill. They were like everyone’s couple goals. Cringe if you ask me, but I digress. Nicki was known for her creativity, her sassy personality, her gorgeous curves, fierce style and her love interests made there way to many a blog.

In her mid-thirties after two relationships that spanned many years, Nicki was single and did not have any children. However every time there was an issue, anytime there was something negative about Nicki Minaj in the press people often times made it about her age and singleness. Media and audiences weaponized that. If she disagreed with other artists and it became public knowledge she would get branded as old and bitter. It was actually kind of gross. Being judgmental on a person you don’t know is ignorant to say the least, but doing it in a way that degrades a larger party is just foul. There is nothing wrong with being single in your mid thirites and not having children. It doesn’t mean you are unhappy and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you. So in 2018 when Nicki began to date Kenneth Petty a long time friend, the narrative went from Nicki the Spinster, to Nicki the artist married to a thug. They found something else to villainize.

This case is about Nicki Minaj sure, she is an icon and currently married to a man with a less than pleasant reputation. But I didn’t interview Nicki for this, I don’t know how she’s really feeling or what she really thinks about all off this. All I have are the facts of what happened based on research. This case has to do with Nicki because we made it about Nicki, but really it has to do with Kenneth Petty and the violence that led to him being at risk of going away for 10 years.

When you first see Kenneth Petty you may think “silent killer” he just has that air about him, the kind that says “I’ll be respectful, but don’t fuck with me” honestly most men probably wish to carry that level of intimidation and confidence. Kenneth is 42 years old and from Queens, New York originally. He’s 5’11 with a buff built and a few tattoos. There is no doubt he is handsome often wearing a low haircut. He prefers the nickname Zoo over anything else. Kenneth is known to have a firey no nonsense personality, being an Aries it isn’t very surprising. Growing up life wasn’t easy for Kenneth. He was a high school dropout who found himself running into trouble with the law early on. In April of 1995 at the age of 15 Kenneth was convicted with the attempted rape of a 16 year old girl. The case though 26 years old is the reason we are here today. He used a knife to cut the young lady, and was sentenced to 18-54 months in prison because of this. It was at 16 when he was placed as a registered sex offender, because she was a minor. Less than a decade later in 2006 Kenneth shot and killed Lamant Robinson. He was charged with first degree murder and was released on parole in May 2016.

In September 2018 Kenneth found trouble with the law again after being arrested for various charges including operating an unlicensed vehicle. Two very short months later, he and Nicki Minaj went public. Their first couple of months were rocky. Nicki defending their relationship and spoke about being over the moon about him, despite rumors of him dating other women, and him being the father of 5 kids already.

She was ready to settle down and start a family, Nicki and Kennth have actually known of each other since the early 2000’s they were always right people wrong time. With her being in an on again off again relationship and Kenneth’s own dating and trouble with the law. Their love however, was real. Kenneth had Nicki’s real name tattoos on him a couple years ago. It was actually the first tattoo he had ever gotten. She loved that he loved her before the fame. She explained that she was ready for a family, she didn’t want a 5th album to come out and she wasn’t solidified in a relationship or more importantly a mom.

Kenneth is Nicki’s person. They dated when she was a teenager. Honestly, I get it, I fell in love with someone I have known since I was 13. Something about a person knowing you and all of you is so special. The pair rekindled when Nicki was handing out turkeys in their old neighborhood and were inseperable ever since. In December when they went public sources rumored that Nicki was head over heels in love again. In January of 2019 this was only further proven with cute captions. Nicki would post like “Fendi Pink on. Chun-Lis Links On” with a photo of Kenneth kissing her feet. The two were hot and heavy, with a healthy sex life that neither were to shy of speaking on. Despite that it was clear Kenneth was a man who preferred being in the background. I don’t think anyone has ever heard him speak. He’s silent but his aura is strong. Through 2019 the couple was in bliss, Kenneth catering to his partner and Nicki just feeling truly loved. By June of 2019 Kenneth appeared at events with Nicki and in music videos. The couple would often coordinate in clothing. They also got their marriage license. A few short months later Nicki announced on twitter she was retiring to focus on her family after her first license expired. Devasted and confused fans sent thousands of messages asking why, and if this was true.

In October of that same year Nicki and Kenneth got married in a quiet ceremony. Nicki described him as the Clyde to her Bonnie. Nicki’s focus seemed at that point to be maintaining her current projects and really experiencing married life. Then Nicki went dark. Aside from her radio partnership with iTunes Nicki didn’t post anything on her social media platforms. The music mogul who created her own Moscato line and had partnerships with brands like Fendi had seemingly gone AWOL. She did a couple appearances but other than that enjoying celebrityhood, wifehood and being herself. Until July 2020 when Nicki announced she was pregnant with her first child. September of 2020 Kenneth and Nicki welcomed a baby boy. Life for the past year aside from the pandemic had been lovely. Nicki dropped another mixtape, she shared pictures of her beautiful son. With only one slip up in March of 2020 with Kenneth and the law things seemed to be looking up.

Until this past September. Kenneth pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender when he moved to California in 2019 during a Zoom hearing with the Los Angeles Federal Court. Nicki Minaj’s husband was previously convicted of attempted rape in New York in 1995 and served approximately four and a half years in prison. As a condition of his conviction, he must register as a sex offender whenever he moves. So, what is the fact that over 20 years later is still haunting Kenneth Petty?

Let’s take it back to that day in 1995.Rumors circulated that Kenneth and this young girl in question were dating and that the incident in question wasn’t nearly as violent, besides Kenneth was a stupid kid at the time. However Jennifer Hough had a different version on what happened to her all those years ago.

Jennifer Hough joined the ladies of The Real a tv show where women come together to talk about real life circumstances to give her testimony on what occurred on September 16, 1994. Jennifer sat somberly in a pale pink blouse with her head down. Her long black hair with peaks of gray showing. She seemed weakened but brave as she recounted what happened between she and Kenneth in the beginning of that school year. “I’m tired of being afraid” she said. Jennifer began by saying that the two had not been dating unlike what was alleged by Nicki herself. Jennifer recalled that she was on her way to school when Kenneth approached her at a bus stop, she didn’t know exactly what he wanted and was puzzled as the two hadn’t had much interaction before than. He cornered Jennifer and pulled out a small knife placing it against her and urging her to go in the direction of his choosing. He led Jennifer to a nearby house, a place she hadn’t been before. There he took her to a bedroom. With each step Jennifer realized it was very clear what Kenneth wanted. “He pushed me down on the bed, we wrestled for my clothes.” She recalled teary eyed and mouse like.

That was when he raped her. Jennifer didn’t recall for how long. She at one point was able to escape while Kenneth was distracted. When she arrived at school, she told security what allegedly happened. Kenneth Petty was arrested that day, and she was taken to the hospital.

Jennifer eventually dropped the charges. However, she wanted it to be clear that he needed to continue to pay for his consequences especially if it meant protecting someone else from it happening to them. Jennifer explained it was more recently as Kenneth was brought more into the spotlight that life for Jennifer began to change as well. For the most part she had lived a quiet life. She had put the past behind her as best she could. Flashes of seeing her rapist on television didn’t make it easier. And neither did the Nicki Camp’s approach to handling it.

Jennifer said in an interview that Nicki Minaj personally reached out to her in an attempt to have both of them move forward with the situation. When Jennifer told Nicki that this incident really happened the call for communication turned into a call for silence. Nicki’s team allegedly offered Jennifer money to keep quiet. “The last incident was when one of their associates put $20,000 on my lap,” Jennifer claimed. “And I still kept saying no. The last message I received was that I should have taken the money because they’re going to use that money to put on my head.”

The calls turned into threats and Jennifer felt no use but to go public and obtain a lawyer for her safety. In a lawsuit obtained by Page Six and filed last month in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Jennifer accused the couple of witness intimidation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

According to the suit, Jennifer and members of her family were allegedly offered repeated cash bribes of as much as $500,000 by Nicki Minaj and her associates to get the accuser to recant her story.

Jennifer’s new goal isn’t so much about the money, more so it is about her safety. Jennifer felt as though she was just another person, someone that could go unnoticed in the grand scheme of things, she felt that in Nicki and Kenneth’s opinion she was much better off dead than alive. This lawsuit is a form of protection and a way to say, you can't bully me or intimidate me into covering up the truth.

Jennifer concluded “It wasn’t right, and it doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter what your status is. You can’t intimidate people to make things go better for you. And that’s what they did.”

So where are we now? Nicki supporters are trying to dissect the truth. This allegation is nothing short of horrific, and to have such a star be attached to it is heartbreaking. However this isn't Nicki’s first rodeo with men and assault. She had to be there for her brother, Jelani who was convicted of raping and impregnating a 12 year old girl. Jelani is currently incarcerated for his crimes. Kenneth pled guilty to failure to register as a sex offender in California, initially he pleaded not guilty but later documents were filed and he is scheduled to be sentenced in January of 2022. According to court documents because Kenneth moved from New York to California he is obligated to register as a sex offender. Nicki Minaj has come out covering different issues since this has made headline news. She has spoken against the COVID vaccine, she has talked about life as a mother, and some fans believe it is a way to distract from the current issue at hand.

So for now we wait. We wait until that January hearing, we think of Jennifer Hugh who has put a spotlight on herself in attempt to save her own life, and we think about Nicki Minaj. If it wasn't for Nicki, who knows, Kenneth may still be living in New York living a regular life, her celebrity status is what put this case on the map. However we cannot ignore the blatant issue at hand, Kenneth at the age of 15 allegedly raped a young woman on her way to school . After that he had multiple run ins with the law, including the manslaughter of a young man. We also think of Nicki, as her hands are nothing but tide. On one hand the allegations made against her husband are horrible. The allegations and proven fact assault done by her brother was also disgusting. On the other hand we're talking about close men in Nicki’s life and we don't know the entire story at least not yet. It's hard to have compassion in face of blatant cruelty and confusion. However we hope that everyone in this situation can come to some sort of peace. And that things do not get any worse than they already are.