Nicki Minaj felt suicidal when her career failed to take off

The 28-year-old rapper was frustrated when she kept losing out on opportunities and would pray for fame and success so she could support her mother financially.

She said: "I kept having doors slammed in my face. I felt like nothing was working. I had moved out on my own, and here I was thinking I`d have to go home. It was just one dead end after another.

"At one point, I was, like, `What would happen if I just didn`t wake up?` That`s how I felt. Like maybe I should just take my life? I would pray to God to make me famous so that I could buy my mother a huge house."

Nicki also spoke about her fraught relationship with her father, admitting his aggression left her with a fear of "unlocked doors".

She explained to the November edition of America`s Cosmopolitan magazine: "He would beg, cry, stalk us? One time, he pulled my mother out of a car and dragged her for two blocks. After that, I had a phobia about unlocked doors. Anywhere my mother and I were, I made sure the door was locked, because that was my only way to protect her."

sections: Celebrities