AceShowbiz - Newlywed Nicki Minaj doubts she will ever move "completely away" from her music roots, despite expressing a desire to retire from the rap game and start a family.

The "Starships" hitmaker stunned fans in September when she took to Twitter and abruptly declared she was hanging up her microphone.

"I've decided to retire & have my family," Minaj tweeted at the time. "I know you guys are happy now. To my fans, keep reppin me, do it til da death of me... Love you for LIFE (sic)."

The hip-hop star soon backtracked and deleted the post, claiming she didn't mean for devotees to take her words so literally, but the 37-year-old admits she does want to take a hiatus from the spotlight to focus on her personal life with her new husband, Kenneth Petty, whom she wed in October.

However, Minaj has assured fans she won't be gone forever.

"I love music and interacting with fans, so I can't really see taking myself completely away," she tells Billboard about her plans outside of the studio.

"But I want to be open to other possibilities in my life. I do believe it is important to become a woman outside of the magnifying glass. I have to make sure that I'm well-rounded as a human being."

Part of that process involves continuing to grow her business empire, which includes her MYX Fusions alcohol firm and her fashion partnership with designers at top luxury brand Fendi, of which she is "really proud".

"I plan on venturing out a million times more than I am now. That was always my goal: to become a big businesswoman," she explains. "I don't want to be in such a lucrative industry and not capitalise on it - everyone else does it."

Minaj is clearly doing something right - her career success to date has earned her the inaugural Game-Changer title from Billboard bosses at their 2019 Women in Music gala.