Nicki Minaj: First marriage, then kids -- has to be ‘in that order’

Nicki Minaj wants kids, and she wants them after she gets married.

The unpredictable emcee made the surprisingly traditional statement in a thoughtful Q&A with Complex just ahead of the release of her third studio album, “The Pinkprint.”

In 2012, the 31-year-old “Anaconda” rapper, real name Onika Tanya Maraj, told the publication that in five years she would ideally “like to be married and have kids.”

Now, she fears becoming “so consumed with work that I’ll forget to live my personal life to the fullest.”

The former “American Idol” judge spoke of issues that she thinks are palpable on “Pinkprint”: “family, loss, death, guilt” — that last one over relationships with family, friends and significant others. The singer and longtime love Safaree Samuels, he of the stealth cover-up tattoo, reportedly called it quits in October. Though she makes no mention of a man in her life, in the piece, she laments her bicoastal relationship with her kin, who are in New York.

Minaj said she’ll ultimately carve out time to prioritize her personal needs — and that’s where the unexpectedly commonplace attitude surfaces.

“If I’m done with my fifth album and I don’t have a child by then, no matter how much money I have, I would be disappointed, as a woman, because I feel like I was put here to be a mother,” Minaj said. “I have definitely put off the wife thing because I don’t want people in my business. I’d rather not do anything that’s going to be on paper but I definitely will be married before I have my baby. I want to make sure I do it in that order.”

And why is “that order” so important to the outrageous emcee?

“I’ve always felt like that since I was young; my mother always put that in my head. By the fifth album, I will have walked down the aisle and I will at least be on baby number one, possibly baby number two,” she said with a laugh. “And have $500 million.”

That $500-million amount, by the way comes from her list of 2012 goals, which also includes making five albums. Once she hits those marks, however, the “Pills N Potions” rapper said that she probably won’t retire but will instead go on “vacation.”

“I won’t use the word ‘retire,’ but I would use the word ‘vacation’ — because I don’t believe in vacations, I don’t believe in holidays. I have to put out all six of my albums, contractually. After the fifth, I’ll probably have my baby. I wonder if I’m going to be one of those women who balances my child with a career. I always said, ‘When I have my baby, it’s going to be all about my baby.’ I don’t want the child feeling like they don’t have all of my attention, so I always said, ‘I’m going to take a little break.’ But we’ll see.”

Nicki reloaded. Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.