Shortly before attacking Nicki Minaj at a party on Friday night, Cardi B shared a heartfelt message about Mac Miller, who was pronounced dead from an apparent overdose hours earlier.
“It’s very sad,” the “I Like It” rapper, 25, told Billboard while attending the Harper’s Bazaar ICONS party during New York Fashion Week, where she would later get into a physical altercation with Minaj.
She went on to share that she hoped that at the end of his life, Miller, 26, wasn’t struggling with “the pressure that fame brings you.”
“I feel like people don’t know that fame brings you a lot of sadness, a lot of pressure,” she remarked. “I just hope that now he’s in a better place.”
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When asked whether she had a message for the late rapper’s family, Cardi replied, “Stay strong, look in the sky, look for messages — he will be sending some.”
“They always send messages in the weirdest way. Maybe in a dream, maybe something. You’ll find it,” she added.
Miller, whose real name was Malcolm McCormick, was pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m. at his Studio City, California, home on Friday, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE.
A cause of death is yet to be determined, but a source told PEOPLE that Miller had gone into cardiac arrest after appearing to suffer a drug overdose.
RELATED: Mac Miller Candidly Discussed His Drug Use and Getting Sober: ‘Overdosing Is Just Not Cool’
In an interview with the rapper that was released just one day before his death, Miller told Vulture that he did experience “pressure” growing up in the public eye, especially as he’s been very open about his struggles with drugs and sobriety.
“A lot of times in my life I’ve put this pressure to hold myself to the standard of whatever I thought I was supposed to be, or how I was supposed to be perceived. And that creates pressure,” he explained.
“It’s annoying to be out and have someone come up to me and think they know. They’re like, ‘Yo, man, are you okay?’ I’m like ‘Yeah, I’m f— at the grocery store.’ You know?,” he added. “It’s the job. This is what I signed up for.”
RELATED VIDEO: LISTEN: Mac Miller Was Working on Music Hours Before His Death
Following his Macadelic tour in 2012 and the release of his first studio album Blue Slide Park, Miller admitted he turned to drugs to cope with stress.
“I love lean; it’s great… I was not happy and I was on lean very heavy,” Miller told Complex in 2013. “I was so f—ed up all the time it was bad. My friends couldn’t even look at me the same. I was lost.”
While Miller attempted to turn his life around within the past couple of years, he was arrested for DUI in May, shortly after news broke that Miller and Ariana Grande had split.
Last month he told Rolling Stone he doesn’t classify himself as a drug addict. “If a bunch of people think I am a huge drug addict, Okay. Cool,” he said. “What can I really do? Go talk to all those people and be like, ‘Naw man, it’s really not that simple?’ Have I done drugs? Yeah. But am I a drug addict? No.”
If you or someone you know is in need of help, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
