Nicki Minaj isn’t a fan of labels when it comes to relationships. During her Tuesday visit to Ellen (April 7), the rapper-actress shifted gears from her candid Meek Mill romance of the past, to a more close-lipped approach, saying, “I don’t even want to say that I’m in a relationship anymore.”
After her previous 12-year relationship flew under the radar, until things got a little “complicated” during her split from Safaree Samuels, Nicki suggests keeping personal affairs close to home is the best way to live life in the public eye.
“I used to say I wasn’t in a relationship even though I was in a 12-year relationship and now, I feel like going back to that and saying I’m single,” she added. “For instance, Valentine’s Day passed and I didn’t put up my Valentine’s Day gift on Instagram. People said, ‘They’re not together.’ We were getting anonymous messages saying, ‘She wasn’t with him. She was crying all day.’ They put up all these things. Meanwhile, we were really in bed all day on Valentine’s Day.”
“No matter what, no matter how great your life is, you can’t even impress people,” she explains. “You just have to do you and make yourself happy, and forget about trying to get everyone’s approval. It’s better to just keep those things sacred.”
She also clarified that she wasn’t given an engagement ring by her rapper boyfriend, but instead rather two shiny rings from “this boy that likes me.” As for a future engagement between the two, who she shied from referring to by name, added, “we’re still figuring each other out.”
Keeping it “surface” seems a little too late for the couple that openly flaunted their relationship from the stage to social media, but nonetheless, it looks like the duo will be keeping things a bit more private moving forward. But after blogs, fans and the internet had a field day with the news of “single” and “Nicki Minaj” in one sentence, she quickly took to her Instagram to clear the air on the claims.
But that didn’t stop the Twitter world from doing what they do best…
So yes, she’s still in a relationship, but would rather you center in on her music and other ventures instead. Starting with her upcoming role in Barbershop: The Next Cut, which is set to hit theaters April 15.
“I just have learned over the years to just let things be and come and go as they are going to come and go.”