It might just be the end of an era and the start of a new one. For around a decade, Rihanna and Drake have been ruling the hip hop scene and fueling a constant flurry of dating rumors. The two met at a young age and have been on and off over the years among several negative comments to photos of PDA. Then, at the 2016 VMA’s, Drake professed his undying love for her.
But, Drake also has another leading lady in his life: Nicki Minaj. From numerous collaborations to coming to each other’s aid amid feuds with other artists, let’s see how their relationship developed over the years.
2010
https://www.instagram.com/p/BL_OE_TgEL5/?tagged=drakenickiminaj
Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later, had some very telling lyrics on the track, “Miss Me.” He wrote, “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/’Cause your verses turn me on and your pants are mighty fitted.”
The same year, in an interview with MTV2’s “Sucker Free Countdown,” Drake addressed the rumors. “When I was on tour … I saw Nicki for the first time and, like, literally fell in love. She was like a theater student and she was so cold at rapping.”
He added, “I’ve always really, actually, really had a crush on her, always really loved her, and she’s always just looked at me as, like, her little brother.” Meanwhile, Minaj was coy, saying the lyrics and Drizzy’s comments were all just ways to get attention.
Then, the two got Twitter-married.
Drake and Nicki have admitted to liking the media frenzy the two of them cause when they’re together. In Nicki’s “Moment 4 Life,” the music video was themed around the two getting married. The song was their first of many collaborations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7GW8TYCEG4
2011
In an interview with the Daily Beast, Drake spoke of his attraction for Nicki, “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. That’s sexy to me. 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.”
2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXtsGAkyeIo
Nicki hinted at a possible elopement, “One day I will run away with Drake and get married, but right now it’s just a fantasy.” Then, Nicki collaborated again with Drake for her track “Only” as a way to shut down multiple romance rumors. Drake rapped, “I never f—ed Nicki cause she got a man/But when that’s over then I’m first in line/And the other day in her Maybach/I thought God damn, this is the perfect time/We had just come from that video/You know L.A. traffic, how the city slow.”
2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs
In Nicki’s viral video for “Anaconda,” she gives Drake a lap dance, allegedly while she was dating rapper Meek Mill. Drake and Meek Mill were once friends but their lengthy feud started when Meek Mill claimed Drake doesn’t write his own lyrics and the argument spiraled furthere for the next few years.
The tension caused some fallout with Nicki and Drake. It’s not always easy when your boyfriend and best friend hate each other. In an interview with Beats Radio 1, Drake addressed the situation, “I don’t really talk to Nicki. She’s a person I have a lot of love for. A lot of love and a lot of respect. Not only for our past, and how much work and time we put in, but even just the way she dealt with the situation. I understand what love is, and I understand a personal situation. She dealt with me how I would expect her to — which was with class. I could only ever do the same.”
2017
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUYDJeEBcoa/?taken-by=nickiminaj
Meek Mill and Nicki subsequently broke it off in early 2017.
At the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, in which Drake broke records, the two appeared to be on good terms again. Probably a little better than good. Nicki pretended to be mad when Drake complimented host Vanessa Hudgens’ beauty instead of her. He quickly made up for it, though, because in his acceptance speech, he personally mentioned Nicki. The guy’s got a thing for talking about the women in his life on stage. He said, “To Nicki Minaj, I’m so glad we found our way back, and I love you, and I could never, ever see it any other way… I got my whole family up here… I got the love of my life up here too.”
With a history and friendship like theirs, it’s hard to imagine them not being together or not ending up together at some point. Sorry, Aubrih fans.