Safaree Samuels

Samuels and Nicki Minaj were together for a long time. The couple started dating sometime around 2002 and parted ways in 2014.

Nicki’s songs such as ‘Bed of Lies,’ ‘Phil N Potions,’ and ‘The Pinkprint’ were rumored to be about Samuels. After his break up with Nicki, he dated model Zashia Santiago.

He’s also been linked to models like Candice Brooks, Analicia Chaves and Nikki Mudarris. In 2017, he dated model Star Divine but soon they went their separate ways.

Safaree Lloyd Samuels was born on July 4, 1981, in Brooklyn, New York. He has Jamaican ancestry. Safaree grew up in Brooklyn with his two sisters - Shamika and Samantha Samuels. Safaree attended ‘Midtown High School’ but found passion in rapping at an early age.

His music career began in the early 2000s when he joined a music group ‘the Hoodstars.’ The other members of the group were Nicki Minaj, 7even Up, and Lou$tar.

The group tasted success when their single, ‘Don’t Mess with Me,’ was featured on the album ‘Theme Addict: WWE The Music, Vol. 6,’ in 2004. The song also became the entrance music of ‘WWE’ diva, ‘Victoria.’

After gaining success together, the group finally split to work on their individual solo careers. When Nicki Minaj decided to become a solo artist, Samuels helped her as a hype man.

In 2010, the duo wrote ‘Did It On’em’ for Nicki’s debut studio album, ‘Pink Friday.’ The track sold more than 500,000 copies in the US alone, and peaked at number 3 on the ‘R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ chart.

He was also featured in Nicki’s music video ‘Stupid Hoe,’ in 2012. He was the co-executive producer and A&R co-coordinator for her second album, ‘Pink Friday: Reloaded,’ that came out in 2012.

He had six writing credits in the album. Samuels was again featured in Minaj’s music video ‘Press Conference.’

After parting ways with Minaj in 2014, Samuels started working on his own rap and hip hop career, and released his first single called ‘Burner’ from his self-titled EP at the end of 2014. He released his first mixtape, ‘It Is What It Is,’ on April 7, 2015, under the label ‘Stuntgang.’

His debut mixtape featured artists such as Philly Swain, Travis Kr8ts and Ward 21. He released ‘It Is What It Is, Vol. 2’ on December 7, 2015 and featured artists such as ‘Bounty Killer.’