Rapper Nicki Minaj announces retirement; fans wonder if she's joking

Tweeting to her 20.6 million followers, Minaj wrote, "I've decided to retire & have my family."

In an apparent dig at her haters, she added, "I know you guys are happy now."

Minaj then told her fans, whom she lovingly refers to as 'Barbz': "Keep reppin me, do it til da death of me."

She didn't clarify if the retirement is permanent or temporary.

However, many shocked fans wondered if Minaj was simply pulling a prank, as she had done in 2016, when she announced the release of a fake surprise album.

Meanwhile, others dissected her 2010 song Moment 4 Life.

In the song, she raps, "Put it on everything, that I will retire with the ring. I will retire with the crown." That checks on both counts.

Last month, the Anaconda singer had gotten her marriage license, and said that she would marry "Kenneth Petty within 80 days."

She also changed her Twitter name to 'Mrs. Petty' the same month.

However, she never confirmed a marriage nor mentioned a pregnancy.

To recall, in her 2015 MTV documentary, Nicki Minaj: My Time Again, she talked about being a housewife and having children.

Minaj said in the 2015 documentary, "I feel like four years [from now] is the time to have a child. But I would have to be married first."

She added, "There's a housewife somewhere inside of here."

However, she went on to say, she would like to have five albums out before a child, and would make her sixth after becoming a mother.

Incidentally, Minaj has only released four albums as of now.

In February, she did, however, confirm that her fifth (still unnamed) album is complete.

So that's pretty much in keeping with her 2015 plan, which should give the Barbz some hope that the rapper will return for a sixth album with a "mother's perspective," as she had planned four years ago.

Ever since she came into the music scene a decade ago with her 2010 album Pink Friday, Minaj has been pretty outspoken and unabashed about what she says, much like her outlandish outfits, wigs, and alter-egos.

One of the few female rappers, the 36-year-old has gotten into feuds with several other celebrities, most famously Miley Cyrus and earlier this year, with Cardi B.