Nicki Minaj motivated by mother

London: Singer Nicki Minaj says her desire to succeed in the music industry comes from her tough childhood and her desire to provide a better life to her mother.

The 26-year-old rapper, who moved from Trinidad to the US at the age of five, admits living in a three-bedroom home with 15 other people and then seeing her father fall victim to drug and alcohol abuse made her determined to do well with her music, reports femalefirst.co.uk. "In Trinidad we didn`t have much. Then my parents moved to the US and then they sent for me, and I thought everything was going to be great," she said. "Really, when I talk about my life in records like `I`m The Best` I`m just saying, `Hey, after all of this, here`s what I`ve accomplished.` What motivated me was that I wanted to get my mother out of her situation, so I always wanted to do my best at whatever I did," she added. Minja, whose first album "Pink Friday" was big hit, admits her difficult upbringing has made her a very aggressive person. "It has made me a very aggressive person. I always heard lots of yelling, fighting and cussing. It made me a very reactive person. I have been learning how to tone that down a bit," she said. IANS