The world of rap and hip-hop has seen some real power couples over the years — and although
not all of these relationships have ended well, there has been genuine love shared between some
of the biggest names in the industry. These are the most famous couples in rap history.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are one of the most famous couples on the planet,
and interest in the pairing has been ripe since the beginning of their relationship.
The two began dating about a year after first meeting back in 2000; they subsequently began
collaborating in October 2002, when Beyoncé appeared on Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde"
By April, 2008, the pair had married. In recent years, both Beyoncé and Jay-Z have opened up about
what makes their marriage work ⁠— and what has challenged it, too. After years of speculation,
Jay-Z confirmed he had cheated on Beyoncé in an 2017 interview with The New York Times.
The two were reportedly able to work through his infidelity, and are now the proud parents to three
children: their first daughter, Blue Ivy, and twins Rumi and Sir.
Their relationship might be best summed up by Beyoncé herself, however — in 2008,
she told Seventeen that, if there's one thing she's learned from her husband, it's that:
"You have to find a person you can make it through the tough times with."
While it's tough to know if she had any idea what fate had in store for her back then,
it definitely seems like the two have made it through thick and thin.
Kelis and Nas had a four-year marriage that ended in 2009. In 2018, Kelis gave an interview
to Hollywood Unlocked, in which she claimed Nas was mentally and physically abusive throughout
their marriage. After telling the publication that their relationship was never typical,
she explained that part of the problem was that she was so young when they met. She said:
"We had really intense highs and really intense lows. [...] An intense high would
be when money was rolling in. But I was 22 when I met him. We were drinking a lot,
getting high a lot. So when that comes down, it was bad."
Kelis added that her son, Knight, is the reason why she finally walked away. She explained:
"I was pregnant and it was a mess and I felt like I wasn't going to bring a child into this."
Nas later denied the allegations in a seven-part Instagram story update.
In those posts, Nas alleged that Kelis was the one who was abusive, writing:
"Luckily for you our assistants all signed NDA's or you would have a list of men and
women who would happily talk about how verbally abusive and evil you are."
Cardi B and Offset first met back in 2016. While they've been coy about
exactly when and where that meeting took place, Cardi has explained that,
while at an "industry event," Offset made it clear he was interested. She later explained:
"He was very consistent. He really wanted to talk to me."
The two went on their first date in February 2017, though they told both interested fans
and the media that they were just friends at the time. Later in 2017, Cardi explicitly
mentioned Offset in an interview with Fader. While speaking about Offset and his friends,
Cardi revealed that they had inspired her to keep working and to push herself. She said:
"I see how hard they work. And that motivated me to work even harder."
In October of that year, Offset made a huge public gesture when he proposed to Cardi onstage —
although they had already secretly married by that point. Unfortunately, rumors that Offset
had cheated on Cardi began the following January, and before long Cardi was weighing her options.
Ultimately, the two have made things work, and are now mom and dad to a daughter and a son.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian met back in the early 2000s. She was first introduced
to Kanye after he collaborated with her friend, the singer Brandy. However,
it took several years for the two to become closer. In April 2012,
West released the song "Cold," originally known as "Theraflu," in which he outright
mentions falling in love with Kim. Around the same time, Kim told the Today show:
"Kanye and I have been friends for years, and
you never know what the future holds or where my life will take me."
Things between the pair escalated quickly from there, with Kanye announcing he and Kim were
expecting their first child together in December 2012. Their daughter North was born in June 2013,
and Kanye and Kim got engaged in October of the same year.
After getting married in 2014, the two welcomed three more children: Saint, Chicago, and Psalm.
In February 2021, however, multiple outlets reported that Kim had filed for divorce
from Kanye. Though rumors that the two were getting back together surfaced in August 2021,
sources close to the pair have since revealed that the divorce is still on.
Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott made their relationship official in April 2017,
when they publicly attended Coachella together. The pair then welcomed their first child,
Stormi, in April 2018. However, sources close to the couple have told Us Weekly
that they don't have a "traditional relationship." This has meant that,
despite loving one another, they have taken breaks and reunited several times over the years.
In September 2021, Scott and Jenner revealed they are expecting their second child together.
After Jenner shared a video to Instagram confirming the news,
a friend told People that both of them were looking forward to welcoming their new addition.
The same friend also explained that not defining their relationship might
be what has really brought Jenner and Scott back together again. They said:
"Kylie and Travis are very close again. [...] They never put any
pressure on their relationship. The focus was always on being the best co-parents."
Quavo and Saweetie have been pretty upfront about how they met:
through Instagram! Quavo revealed to GQ in July 2020 that after Saweetie showed
up on his Instagram explore page, he decided to take the plunge and chat her up. He recalled:
"I was like, 'Damn! Who is this?' So I did my research [...] So I slid in her DM.
I told her, 'You an icy girl, you need a glacier boy.'"
The two then spent months flirting back and forth on Instagram before they actually met.
Eventually, they went on their first date and things began progressing. As Saweetie told GQ:
"I don't know how I would be as a person if I would have never met him."
The sentiment was echoed by Quavo, who explained to the publication that he has learned what love
can truly be through their relationship. Sadly, it seems the relationship between the two has
run its course. In April 2021, Saweetie addressed rumors that Quavo cheated on Twitter. She wrote:
"I'm single. I've endured too much betrayal and hurt behind
the scenes for a false narrative to be circulating that degrades my character.
Presents don't band-aid scars and the love isn't real when the intimacy is given to other women."
Before getting married in 2017, Keyshia Ka'oir and Gucci Mane went through a
lot together. That year, Keyshia gave an interview to The Fader about how they met,
sharing that Gucci was in jail in 2010 when he spotted her photo in a magazine. Ka'oir said:
"He called [his manager] Amina from jail, and he was like,
'Who is Keyshia Ka'oir? I want to meet this girl.' He was like,
'I'm getting out soon, I need her for my next video, you have to find her!'"
One thing led to another, and Keyshia eventually starred in the video for Gucci's "911 Emergency."
Unfortunately, Gucci was arrested again in 2013 and served another three years.
Keyshia told The Fader that the two made things work by synchronizing their schedules.
Speaking five to six times a day apparently helped, and they planned out everything between
phone calls and emails: when to wake up, when to eat, when to work out, and so on.
She also told the publication that, because they survived so much in the beginning,
their days together now are easy. She said:
"We really have a very loving,
honest relationship. Nothing is for the media, nothing is fabricated."
Ashanti and Nelly were in a relationship for quite some time — in fact,
the two dated for nearly 10 years before they finally broke up in 2014.
Ashanti addressed the end of their relationship during an appearance on The Meredith Vieira Show,
explaining that a betrayal was ultimately what led to the pair's end.
"I think sometimes when people have their own insecurities
it allows them to act out of character."
The two ran into each other again at a Verzuz event in September 2021, but Ashanti later told
Ja Rule and Fat Joe that there was no chance of them getting back together.
She explained that, although she hadn't expected to see him,
she wasn't single at the time and was unconcerned about Nelly's status.
Neither Ashanti nor Nelly have ever offered specific details about why they ended things.
As Ashanti told Meredith Vieira, however, it might just have come down to a little growing up.
"You just have to grow. You have to grow up,
you have to accept responsibilities for the things that you do."
Lil' Kim met Biggie Smalls when she was 17 years old.
She would go on to become the only female member of Biggie's rap group,
Junior MAFIA, and the pair had a relationship that was described, at times, as being
"violent." While speaking to HOT 97 in 2017, Lil' Kim explained the situation. She said:
"We did have a very violent relationship. I hate that,
for a while, that was all I attracted: violent guys."
However, Lil' Kim has also explained that not everything between the two was bad.
In an interview with People magazine, she recounted a memory with Biggie,
long before they knew how big either of them would become. The two were out and about
in California when she noticed that people were recognizing Biggie. Lil' Kim recalled:
"I was like, 'You don't see all these people looking at
you and screaming your name?' And he was just talking to me very humbly still."
Biggie was married to Faith Evans at the same time he was with Lil' Kim, and his infidelity
was a big problem in the relationship. However, after Biggie's death in 1997,
Evans told Vibe that the two women had put aside their negative feelings towards one another.
Before everyone was talking about Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, everyone was talking about
Kanye West and Amber Rose. The latter pair dated for two years from 2008 to 2010, but Amber Rose
later revealed that things weren't exactly great between the two of them. On top of that, she has
outright claimed that Kanye "bullied" her for 10 years, telling the No Jumper podcast in 2020:
"I opted out. I don't want my life to be like that. I'm not that type of person."
Amber has also claimed that she and Kanye are essentially different types of people, saying:
"I'm a compassionate person. I have empathy. I'm a good person. That's why people love me."
For his part, Kanye has publicly attacked Amber Rose and their
relationship together, telling The Breakfast Club:
"It's very hard for a woman to want to be with someone that's
with Amber Rose [...] I had to take 30 showers before I got with Kim."
Erykah Badu and Andre 3000 dated throughout the 1990s, a fact that the two don't speak about too
often. Some might be surprised to learn they have a child named Seven together — and that Seven is
now well into his 20s. In 2020, Badu told Rolling Stone that, because she and Andre 3000 weren't
friends first, they have continued to learn a lot about each other over time. She explained:
"We had stuff in common, but we didn't learn all of that
until over the years. We have a 23-year-old son. Over these years,
we've just become closer and closer as friends, as humans, as man, as woman."
Badu also elaborated on what their relationship is like now, calling Andre
3000 one of her closest friends. Nevertheless, the two are no longer romantically involved.
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