Nicki Minaj is less than a month away from the release of Pink Friday 2, a project that, in hindsight, she likely did not foresee herself making. In the December edition of Vogue, the lyricist spoke candidly about believing motherhood would signal the closing of the chapter known as her music career.

Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, welcomed their first child, a son affectionately known as Papa Bear, in September 2020. “I think that deep down inside, I believed that once I had a family, I would just lose the desire to make music,” she told the publication.

“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,” she continued.

The Grammy-nominated artist described a chance encounter with a woman described as being “the world’s best homemaker,” which broadened her perspective on balancing motherhood and her own identity outside of the consuming role of caring for another.

“She felt guilt when she was doing the perfect homemaker thing and guilt as a working mom when she missed a moment in their lives. Maybe God let that lady say that to me because it made me think, ‘Well, if I’m going to have mom guilt regardless, I might as well continue doing the only thing I know how to freaking do, which is make music,” said Minaj.

Since the birth of her son, she has not released a full-length solo project but has made appearances on records with up-and-coming acts such as Sexxy Red for “Pound Town 2” and Ice Spice for “Princess Diana (Remix)” and “Barbie World.”

Pink Friday 2, her first album since 2018’s Queen, will be released on Dec. 8. Her first single, “Last Time I Saw You,” is available on DSPs. An official video has not been released, but Minaj did give fans a treat when she performed the track live at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.