Timeline of Nicki Minaj and Drake's friendship and flirting over the years

Nicki Minaj and Drake have one of the most long-lasting friendships in the rap world. The duo first met when they were at the starting points of their respective careers, with both getting signed to Lil Wayne's label Young Money in 2009.

Over the years, their friendship developed further, with each featuring in the other's tracks as well as live shows quite frequently. Drake has also hinted at having romantic feelings for the female rapper on several different occasions.

The duo's dynamics passed through a rocky phase during Nicki's relationship with rapper Meek Mill, due to a Twitter war between him and Drake, but was restored as soon as the relationship was over.

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Timeline of Nicki Minaj and Drake's friendship and flirting, explored

June 2010: Drake confessed his love for Nicki Minaj in Miss Me

Soon after Lil Wayne signed Drake and Nicki Minaj, the two became close. On June 1, 2010, Drizzy released Miss Me, a track from his debut studio album Thank Me Later, in which he openly confessed his love for Minaj. His rap verse included:

“I love Nicki Minaj/ I told her I’d admit it/ I hope one day we get married just to say we f***ing did it/ And girl I’m f***ing serious I’m with it if you with it.”

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November 2011: Drake called Minaj "the ideal woman"

On November 15, 2011, Drake was interviewed by The Daily Beast, where the subject of Nicki Minaj came up, and the Hotline Bling rapper called her his "ideal woman," elaborating:

"If there’s any woman in my life that’s the ideal woman for me, it’s definitely Nicki. I like the stripped-down Nicki. I like Nicki with no makeup, black hair, some casual clothes in a recording booth rapping an amazing verse."

Drizzy continued:

"I know some great women, but all jokes aside, Nicki is somebody I could spend my life with because I think we understand each other."

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June 2013: Minaj called Drizzy her "baby" in a Hot 97 interview

On June 4, 2013, Nicki Minaj was interviewed by Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg, where she opened up about her relationship with Drake, commenting:

"Drake is my baby ’cause that’s how we were when we came in, so whenever I think of him, I’ll be like, ‘Oh, that’s my baby.’ Whatever is going on now, obviously we’re all very busy, and you know, sh*t happens."

The Pink Friday rapper also talked about the struggles of maintaining relationships across long distances, saying:

"It gets a little hard to have a real connection when people are on different sides of the world and working on different things."

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2015: Minaj and Drake were no longer speaking due to the Drizzy-Meek Mill feud

Minaj's relationship with rapper Meek Mill started in early 2015 and ended two years later, in January 2017. During this period, Mill and Drake got into a heated Twitter (now X) exchange, due to which Nicki and Drizzy were no longer on talking terms.

Speaking about it in an NME interview on April 12, 2018, following the breakup, Nicki called it "one of the hardest parts of my career," explaining:

"I was behind the scenes, wishing it wouldn’t happen. I said, ‘Don’t do that.’ I think, as artists, we all look back on things that we shouldn’t have done."

The 41-year-old added:

"And that was one of those things he shouldn’t have done. But he did it, and it is what it is. What I do know is that Meek and Drake have moved on from that."

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April 2016: Drake admitted to not having spoken to Nicki Minaj

While Minaj found not talking to Drake hard, the One Dance rapper was going through something similar at the time. On April 28, 2016, he was interviewed by Zane Lowe from Apple Beats 1, where he said about the Swalla rapper:

"I don't really talk to Nicki. She's another person I have a lot of love for, a lot of respect to her and the past and what we built. I understand what love is and I understand a personal situation."

Drizzy further added:

"She dealt with me how I would expect her to - with class. I would do the same you know. There are times I was sitting there, waiting to see, you know, how deep is your love? I have respect for Nicki, but unfortunately we haven't spoken."

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2017: Minaj and Drake reunited after her breakup with Meek Mill

Despite the hardships their friendship went through, Drake and Nicki reunited soon after her breakup with Meek Mill. On February 1, 2017, the Barbie World rapper posted a picture with Drizzy on her Instagram account—signaling that they were friends again.

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Since 2017, the rappers have seemingly remained close, with Drake being featured in the track Needle on Nicki's 2023 album Pink Friday 2.