Nicki Minaj Announces ‘Fierce’ New Album After Announcing Retirement, Leaving Fans Confused

Rapper Nicki Minaj has fans puzzled following an interview the “Anaconda” singer gave to Elle as part of a photoshoot published on Tuesday afternoon.

Minaj left fans devastated when she announced plans to retire from the music industry to start a family. But if her comments in Elle are to be believed, Minaj doesn’t plan on calling it quits just yet.

“It’s probably the most excited I’ve been about an album release in a really long time,” the 36-year-old said. “I’m happy that we’re not making my fans wait for another album, like I’ve done in the past. This one incorporates all the things people love about Nicki, but it also just has a way bigger sound, so it goes perfectly with the collection.”

As Elle noted, there was a nearly four-year gap between the release of Minaj’s third studio album, The Pinkprint, and her 2018 fourth studio album, Queen.

Minaj went on to tell the fashion magazine that her upcoming fifth studio album is “fierce, fun, and unapologetic.”

And although she claimed earlier this month to be calling it quits, might Minaj be beginning a foray into a new field altogether? Maybe. In the interview, Minaj also said that in the future, she would be interested in creating her own fashion line, giving the publication an enthusiastic “yes” when asked about the possibility.

The confusion stems from a Tweet that Minaj sent on September 5, in which she announced plans to retire in order to start a family with her boyfriend, Kenneth Petty, per a previous report from The Inquisitr.

The “Megatron” singer said in a now-deleted tweet that she planned to retire, telling her fans to “keep reppin” her in her retirement in a seeming nod to “Girl On Fire,” her popular 2012 collaboration with Alicia Keys.

As The Inquisitr noted, Minaj had previously mentioned that she was working on another album, so it was likely that she would release that album before entering her announced retirement. Though the news from Elle Tuesday has still left Minaj fans confused.

“Queen of releasing music while on retirement,” one Twitter user joked about the singer who often calls herself “Queen” and even titled her previous album with that moniker.

Others, expressing confusion at the seemingly conflicting statements, charged that Minaj had only announced her retirement as a publicity stunt.

“So what is the truth,” other Twitter users wondered, one even attaching a screenshot of Minaj’s now-deleted tweet.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, Minaj later promised fans on Twitter that she would explain her decision to retire in a future episode of her Apple Music radio show Queen Radio. Fans are now in greater anticipation of that upcoming next episode, so that she can, hopefully, reveal more details about her next album.