Nicki Minaj is speaking out after the tragic shooting death of PnB Rock.
Rock, 30, wasβper the Associated Pressβfatally shot during a robbery at a Roscoeβs Chicken and Waffles location in the Los Angeles area on Monday. In an Instagram update confirming the death, Atlantic Recordsβwhich released Rockβs most recent studio albumΒ TrapStar Turnt PopStarβremembered the artist as a βgreat friendβ and βwonderful father.β
Monday night, shortly after news of PnB Rockβs murder was confirmed, Minaj addressed the death in a series of tweets. Centered in her comments about the shooting was criticism of the practice of sharing oneβs location to social media, while she also remembered Rock as βa pleasure to work withβ and sent condolences to his loved ones.
βAfter Pop Smoke thereβs no way we as rappers or our loved ones are still posting locations to our whereabouts,β Nicki said. βTo show waffles & some fried chicken????! He was such a pleasure to work with. Condolences to his mom & family. This makes me feel so sick. Jesus.β
In a tweet, Nicki appeared to reference PnB rockβs girlfriend, who posted the rapperβs location on Instagram prior to the shootingl.
In a follow-up message, this time in response to a tweet referencing the shooting deaths of Nipsey Hussle and XXXTentacion, Nicki shared her opinion that artists are often viewed as βpreyβ within βa world full of predators.β
Getting ahead of criticism, Nicki also vowed to βsay what I wantβ from the dual perspective of artist and mother
βMy heart is hurting for the MOTHERS OF THESE KIDS that tried to make something better of their lives!!!β she said.
Nicki went on to defend herself after people accused her of blaming PnB Rockβs girlfriend for posting their location on Twitter.
As Nicki herself mentioned amid Monday nightβs tweets, her VMAs Vanguard Award acceptance speech last month saw her paying tribute to multiple artists who are no longer with us, including the inspiration for the award itself, Michael Jackson.
βI wishΒ Whitney HoustonΒ andΒ Michael JacksonΒ were still here,β Nicki said when accepting the honor. βI wish that people understood what they meant and what they were going through. I wish people took mental health seriously, even for the people who we think have perfect lives. I wish Pop SmokeΒ and Juice WRLDΒ and Nipsey Hussle were here.β