Flying solo! Nicki Minaj opened up in a new interview about being single for the first time since she was 15 years old.
“I remember feeling like I could do anything at one time in my life, and somewhere along the line, I just started second guessing myself, for whatever reason,” the “Rich Sex” rapper, 35, told Elle for her July 2018 cover story. “As soon as I realized that I could actually live and breathe, and eat and sleep, and walk and talk without having a boyfriend, something clicked in me.”
Minaj dated rapper Safaree Samuels for nearly 12 years until they called it quits in late 2014. The end of their relationship inspired much of her album The Pinkprint. She later romanced Meek Mill from early 2015 to late 2016 followed by Nas from May 2017 until this January.
The Grammy nominee said her newfound single status makes her “feel strong and powerful.”
“The fact that I am a young woman who doesn’t need a man for money. I don’t need a man for a job,” she told the magazine. “I’ve never had to f–k for beats. I’ve never had to f–k for a record deal. I don’t have those pressures. I get up when I want, shop when I want.”
Minaj added that one song on her upcoming fourth studio album, Queen (out August 10), discusses her decision to not seal the deal anytime soon with potential suitors.
“Abstaining from sex / Had to zen my body,” she raps. “I ain’t giving, so don’t ask / I don’t lend my body / He gotta be king status to get in my body.”
The “Chun-Li” MC recently told a fan on Instagram that she is dating Eminem, but the comment appeared to be a joke. After Slim Shady, 45, gave Minaj a shout-out on stage at Governors Ball on June 3, she responded on Instagram, “If he say we go together then bitch we go togeva.”
