Carol Maraj, mother of rapper superstar Nicki Minaj, recently revealed that her daughter had an abusive childhood caused by her alcoholic and cocaine-addicted father. According to DailyMail, she claimed that Minaj used her childhood experiences and tough upbringing to become the strong woman she is today.

In a recent interview with The Sun, Minaj’s mother opened up about the effect of her husband Robert’s alcohol and cocaine addiction on their family during the rapper’s childhood years. “My husband used to get high on cocaine and alcohol and would come home and terrorize the whole family,” she said.

Robert would allegedly hit Maraj and her children, and Minaj would supposedly spend evenings crying in her room because of the way her father treated her brothers Micaiah and Jelani. Minaj’s mother claimed that her husband had also once tried to burn their house in New York down with her in it, but that the children had escaped because they were staying at a neighbor’s house at the time.

Carol Maraj shares childhood stories and photos of @NICKIMINAJ w/ @MTV – http://t.co/s7Iji94S1g pic.twitter.com/Y3PtXuvG5i

— Young Money (@YoungMoneySite) May 12, 2014

Nicki Minaj opens up about her traumatic youth and abusive father http://t.co/JsnPZ2Uq16 pic.twitter.com/SlyFr8kDly

— Mirror Celeb (@MirrorCeleb) September 9, 2014

Minaj herself recently opened up about her abusive childhood when she spoke to Now magazine this month. “A lot of arguing, lots of screaming—there were holes punched into the walls in anger and cops being called to the house all the time. I was afraid, very afraid that something would happen to my mother,” Minaj revealed. She previously told Rolling Stone in an interview that one of the first things she did when she and her family moved to New York when she was five years old was to pray that she would become rich enough to take care of her mother.

Minaj recently claimed that her father went to rehab, cleaned up and now attends church with her mother. However, RadarOnline.com has reported that Minaj’s father was arrested twice in 2013 for drunk driving and is expected to appear in court on July 9, 2015.