AceShowbiz - Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj has confessed her criminal past - she stole clothes from shops as a teenager. The "Check It Out" hitmaker admits she and a pal would take items from retailers in a local mall while she was at high school in New York City.

But the thefts led to a brush with authority when security staff caught the pair and banned them from the shop. Minaj tells rock magazine NME, "I remember me and my friend, when we were in high school, we always used to steal clothes. I'll always remember the one time we got busted. It's always stuck with me."

"We didn't get taken away by the cops, but we got manhandled and taken away to the basement. We had to give them our names and they were basically like, 'Because you're so young we'll just ban you from the store.' "

"What's crazy is that I'd been, like, going to the mall with my friend for months and never once realizing that she'd been stealing clothes. Then when I tried to join in we freaking get busted. It was ridiculous!"