Here's a look back at all the high-profile people rapper, Nicki Minaj has dated over the years.
Nicki Minaj's recent surprise appearance alongside Erika Kirk at Turning Point USA's AmEx event has become the talk of the town. Being one of the top female rappers in Hollywood, whatever she does grabs the headlines. This is especially true for her romances over the years, which have caught the attention of both fans and critics alike.
For those unversed, Nicki first debuted over two decades ago, in 2010, with her music album, Pink Friday. As you can guess, with her increasing rise to fame and years in the spotlight, she has dated some pretty well-known names. From Safaree Samuels to Meek Mill, here's a look at her complete dating history.
Although Nicki Minaj has dated a number of celebrities in the industry, in an old interview, she revealed that her first relationship was with an older guy named Aaron. Nicki dated him while they were attending one of the most prestigious performing arts schools in Manhattan, LaGuardia. As she was still new to love at the time, she accidentally fell pregnant with Aaron's baby. However, she ultimately decided to abort the baby, as she reveals on her album, The Pinkprint. In the song, All Things Go, she raps, "My child with Aaron would've have been 16 any minute." She can also be seen speaking about the loss of her baby in her documentary, My Time Again:
"We made a terrible mistake. We had to pay for it. I always felt like my destiny was to be accomplished in my career first, and then be a mother."
According to reports, Nicki Minaj dated fellow rapper, Safaree Samuels, for over a decade. To be exact, the two dated for 12 years before calling it quits in 2014. As someone who draws inspiration from her own life, the Grammy-nominated artist included several songs about the aftermath of her breakup with Safaree on her album, The Pinkprint. Since Safaree was only an aspiring rapper at that time compared to a big name in the industry like Nicki, he felt that his relationship with her “got to a point where [he] was being treated like an employee, instead of, like, her man.”
Rumours of Nicki Minaj seeing Meek Mill, the Dreams and Nightmares MC, surfaced in February 2015. Nicki was clearly smitten with him as she told Billboard in December of that year that they were “really really enjoying each other's company.” Their relationship was so strong that Nicki even appeared in one of Meek Mill's probation hearings. Sadly, a few years later, Nicki took to her official X handle (formerly Twitter) to announce that she and Meek Mill had split. In January 2017, she penned, “To confirm, yes I am single. Focusing on my work & looking forward to sharing it with you guys real soon.”
Among her list of high-profile exes is rap legend, Nas, who is known for songs like N.Y. State of Mind, Patience, On My Soul, Get Down, and If I Ruled the World, among others. Nicki Minaj sparked dating rumours with him back in May 2017. Fanning the flames of the rumours, the Starships singer posted a photo of them cosying up at the Sweet Chick restaurant in Los Angeles, which left their fans gasping.
Nicki seemingly confirmed the speculations herself when she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in late May, saying, “He’s so dope…We're both from Queens. And he is the king of Queens, and I'd like to think I'm the queen of Queens.” Unfortunately, their relationship was pretty short-lived. In January 2018, reports surfaced with insiders close to the couple confirming that Nicki and Nas' relationship had “fizzled out,” though they “still remain friends.”
After her breakup with Nas, Nicki Minaj quickly moved on to her now beau, Kenneth Petty. The two were first linked together in December 2018. However, compared to her previous relationships, her dating Kenneth raised a lot of eyebrows with many fans wondering why she is dating a registered s*x offender. For those unversed, Kenneth is registered s*x offender in New York, and to top it off, he has also served a prison sentence of seven years for first-degree manslaughter. Some time after Nicki made her relationship with him Instagram official, in a shocking revelation, a source told Us Weekly at the time that the couple had previously “dated when [Nicki] was a teenager, before she was famous.” This was later confirmed by Nicki herself, who said:
“Facts but we were like this about each other since we were very young kids in the hood. He was on my body b4 the big ol’ booty. B4 the fame & fortune. Fought my bf cuz I wouldn’t be his girl. He was always a lil brazy. But anyway, timing is everything.”
They tied the knot a year later, in October 2019, and announced that they were expecting their first child in July 2020. Now, in 2025, the couple is still going strong, all while raising their son, whom they nicknamed Papa Bear.
What are your thoughts on rapper, Nicki Minaj's extensive dating history? Let us know.
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