Nicki Minaj explains controversial 'near death' remark from the BET Awards

NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Nicki Minaj expanded on her recent comment that she had a near death experience during an interview for the September issue of The Fader.

The "Super Bass" singer, 31, made the controversial remarks in June while giving an acceptance speech at the 2014 BET Awards and explained at the time she didn't call an ambulance because she didn't want to end up "on TMZ."

"I was making a point to say that the business kills so many people and we don't even realize it," Minaj told the magazine. "I can only imagine how many people in this business have died because they may not have wanted to...to be embarrassed publicly. We care so much about what the world thinks that we don't live, really."

Back in June, Minaj told the crowd the experience was eye-opening and that it made her realize that she doesn't care about what other people say.

"I'ma do me. I'ma do me," the singer told the crowd at the time.

While Minaj won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist for the fifth year in a row at the event, she told The Fader she still gets emotional when she talks about her roots.

"One day [my brother Micaiah] asked my mother, 'Do you ever think there'll come a time we all live in the same house again, and Onika (Minaj's given name) will be back and she'll have her room, and I'll have my room?' And it just broke my heart," the singer told the magazine.

"I don't want to get emotional," she added. "I just miss them. Every time I talk about them, I get emotional."

The Fader's fall Fashion issue will be released on August 26.

Nicki Minaj (The Fadder)