Rapper Nicki Minaj has opened up about past "toxic" relationships on social media, ahead of her marriage to Kenneth Petty.

"I remember being so afraid to speak because I never knew when that person would be in a particular mood and I could maybe say one wrong thing that would get me hit," Minaj tweeted.

She also tweeted to say that women stuck in wrong relationships need advice, not derision. "When you see a woman in a toxic relationship, rather than laugh and say mean things, try to offer sound advice from your heart and root for her to learn her worth. We've all been there. I saw my parents fight and argue non stop and never divorce, so I thought this was normal behavior," she wrote.

Minaj, however, says she feels "safe" and "unconditionally loved" now. "The difference you see in me now is that feeling when a woman feels lifted up, safe, appreciated and unconditionally loved," she tweeted on Sunday.

The singer said that her toxic relationships of the past made her think the love was an emotion that was only meant to hurt.

"I really used to think love had to hurt. So I could never look down on anyone else. We are merely human. It's not easy to leave. Especially in the world of Instagram where all people want to do is post relationship goal pictures for clout & attention. A man should make you feel safe, not afraid," she wrote.

"But I first had to learn how to love myself. If you wouldn't let a man treat your mother, your sister or best friend like that because you love them, then you wouldn't let a man treat YOU like that because you love you. This isn't about judging. We judge too much. Lift them up," she concluded.