Nicki Minaj announces that she is retiring from music

Nicki Minaj has announced that she is retiring from music to start a family.

The 'Superbass' hitmaker has revealed she is taking a break from her music so she can have kids with her beau Kenneth Petty.

She wrote on Twitter: "I've decided to retire & have my family. I know you guys are happy now. To my fans, keep reppin me, do it til da death of me, [check] in the box- cuz ain't nobody checkin me. Love you for LIFE"

Nicki - who has since changed her surname on social media to Petty - had previously revealed she had planned to marry Kenneth within the next 80 days.

Speaking in mid-August, she said: "[We] filed for the marriage licence and we still had to pick it up and I was travelling, by the time I came back, we had to renew it again. From that time, you have 90 days to get married.

"That was about a week ago, so now I have about 80 days. I have to work on my album and I have a lot to focus on that I don't want to do the big wedding now. We'll do the big wedding later.

"I'll be married before my album comes out, but will have my wedding after the album comes out. Before the 90 days is over, yes, I will be married. I'm very happy about that because my baby makes me so happy."

Meanwhile, Nicki had previously slammed people who said she was "lowering standards" by dating Kenneth.

She said: "When a person is with a n**** that loved them before they had a dime in their pocket ... how do you not understand that? How do you not understand happiness versus clout? How f***ing dare you talk about lowering standards."

- Bang! Showbiz