Nicki Minaj reveals she was recently near death in BET Awards acceptance speech

LOS ANGELES, June 30 (UPI) -- Nicki Minaj says she recently had a near-death experience.

The 31-year-old singer broached the topic during her acceptance speech at the 2014 BET Awards Sunday. Minaj won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist for the fifth year in a row, and plugged her new album before she admitted "the other day ... I really thought I was about to die."

"I was saying my prayers to die. And I didn't even wanna call the ambulance because I thought, 'Well, if I call the ambulance, it's gonna be on TMZ,'" she revealed. "I would rather sit there and die, and it made me realize, I don't care anymore what anybody gotta say. I'ma do me, I'ma do me. And I hope and pray that BET continues to honor authenticity, and that's all I'm gonna say about that."

It is unclear if Minaj's experience was a physical situation or a desperate state of mind. The singer plans to release her third studio album, The Pink Print, later this year.