When did Nicki Minaj and Safaree break up? Reality TV star continued to make money off the rapper's album after the split 

After Nicki Minaj entered the rap industry in 2005, she built a successful career for herself. With five studio albums, four world tours, and several awards, Minaj is a self-proclaimed "queen of rap."

Nicki is married to her childhood sweetheart Kenneth Petty. Before Perry, she was in a relationship with rapper Safaree Samuels. The couple dated for 12 years, before breaking up in 2014.

While the two were still dating, Safaree had contributed to some of Minaj's songs in terms of vocals and lyrics, for which he received payments long after they parted ways.

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Safaree Samuels posted about receiving music business check for Nicki Minaj's songs

In July 2018, Safaree Samuels posted a photo of a pay statement on his Instagram handle. The statement revealed that he received about $2,342 for his contributions to two tracks of Nicki Minaj's debut album - Pink Friday.

The song titles mentioned in this pay statement included Did It On 'Em, for which he was listed as a co-writer. The second track was Roman's Revenge, which marked the first and only collaboration between Minaj and Eminem, credited Safaree for his additional vocals.

Over the statement, the No Regular Girl rapper wrote:

"Wth I just get this random music business check from??? 55 years later wat da hell... Happy Birthday to me!!"

This cheque reportedly came after Safaree threatened to sue Nicki Minaj for not giving him enough credit for his contributions to her songs back in 2015. However, the lawsuit was never filed.

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Safaree described his breakup with Nicki Minaj as "a dark time"

On July 12, 2024, Safaree Samuels was invited to the We In Miami podcast, where the rapper was asked about the biggest struggle he had to overcome in his life. Answering the question, Samuels referred to his breakup with Nicki Minaj in 2014 and said:

"Like I was with Nicki, we broke up. So her fans and certain people wanted it to be like, ‘okay, they’re not together anymore… f*** him. Let him be nothing, let him disintegrate, let him disappear."

Safaree then talked about Nicki Minaj getting together with rapper Meek Mill soon after their break up, and the three of them getting into a feud. These circumstances created "a dark time" for Samuels. He recalled that time and said:

"I had two of the biggest people in the world against me. That made everybody be against me. Nobody wanted to be next to me. Nobody wanted to work with me. It just made everything hard. That was a dark time for me.”

Safaree also pointed out that "some people" didn't like the fact that he still managed to survive in the industry despite all the drama surrounding his breakup with the Side to Side rapper.

This isn't the first time Safaree has talked about their relationship after their breakup. Samuels previously spoke about it in an interview with Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club on December 17, 2015.

"I walked away. I’m not going to say I broke up, but I’m the one who walked away. I packed up my stuff and I left. I just got to the point where the respect wasn’t there," he said.

The Scared Famous contestant continued:

"Everyone around her works for her, you know? So it got to the point where it was like, I’m your man. I’m who you go to sleep with every night. I’m who you wake up with every morning. And it got to the point where I was being treated like an employee, instead of like her man.”

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Following their breakup, Safaree Samuels started dating actress and model Erica Mena. They got married in October 2019. The couple have two children together. After two years of marriage, Mena filed for divorce from Samuels in May 2021.

Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj dated Meek Mill for two years after breaking up with Safaree. She reunited with Kenneth Petty in 2018. The couple tied the knot in 2019 and welcomed a son. Their son's nickname is "Papa Bear", but his real name is unknown.