Many rappers' wives are just as impressive as their famous husbands. Some of them are also
professional musicians in their own rights, while others have found success in different fields.
From the likes of Cardi B to Alicia Keys, here are some of the most inspiring wives in the industry.
Swizz Beatz is both a rapper and one of the hip hop world's most beloved producers,
as his collaborators include the likes of Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and T.I.,
just to name a few. That resume is closely rivaled by that of his significant other,
Alicia Keys, who's received 15 Grammy awards and 29 nominations over the course of her career.
Keys has been a world-famous musician ever since her debut album Songs In A
Minor became an overnight sensation in 2001. As she told The Guardian in 2021,
"I still feel that same enthusiasm and I'm so grateful to be able to have this
type of footprint over the years. But I'm, like, 'What the hell?' It's wild."
Keys and Swizz's marriage has been going strong since 2010.
They've had two sons together, as well as Beatz's children from previous relationships.
In 2016, she celebrated their unique home life by releasing the song "Blended
Family (What You Do For Love)." As she explained to Ellen DeGeneres at the time,
"I feel like 'the family' is such a beautiful and diverse unit and — as
we've all experienced — our families come in all different sizes and shapes and versions."
"It does feel that you are each other's cheerleaders."
Over the years, Jay-Z and Beyoncé Knowles have become one of the most awe-inspiring couples
in pop culture history. And that's of course not just thanks to the Roc Nation billionaire,
as his wife is also a record-breaking artist who's reportedly worth $440 million in her own
right. With such releases as her 2013 self-titled album and 2016's Lemonade,
she's established herself as one of the most respected artists in popular music.
The couple have kept their relationship relatively private over the years, appearing together for the
first time in 2002 on Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie and Clyde." They then collaborated again on
Beyoncé's first solo hit, "Crazy in Love." They later combined their forces again for
other projects like the On The Run II stadium tour, which grossed a reported $253.5 million.
Performing at 48 sold-out stadiums, they managed to rake in $5.28 million per night. Despite living
through rocky moments involving cheating and miscarriages, the superstar couple is still
living and working together, and it doesn't look like their success is slowing down anytime soon.
One of the most iconic rap couples happened to meet on a film set.
Ice-T first caught sight of former Sports Illustrated model Coco Austin while he was in
a bad mood while shooting a movie. As he recounted on a 2017 episode of The Howard Stern Show,
"I was grumpy that day. And my boys saw her — she was on the set working — and they said,
'Well, this will cheer Ice up. Let's put her over near him just so he'll have something to do.'"
The Grammy-winning rapper was indeed wowed when he saw Austin. As he put it,
"I was just kind of stunned."
He then asked her,
"Have you ever considered dating a gangsta rapper?"
This prompted her to ask him if he was a "nice" gangsta rapper, to which he replied,
"Well, baby, you take the 'n' off 'nice' and you get 'Ice.'"
"Ah!"
"It worked."
"And then it worked."
"And we ended up here."
The couple eventually married, and they've also starred on their own reality show,
Ice Loves Coco, which has followed them through various adventures like renewing their vows.
Cardi B has experienced multi-platinum success to rival that of her husband Offset's group Migos.
She was even named Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2020.
But years before she was one of the most famous female rappers in the world,
she was just trying to get her big break. She met the Georgia-born Offset in 2017, and they decided
to work together on the song "Lick." He then asked her out and organized their first date,
at the Super Bowl of all places. As he described it to Rolling Stone in 2018,
"That's a power move!"
The couple have stayed in the public eye ever since. Offset caused headlines by proposing at
a Philadelphia concert, but then accusations of cheating began to emerge. Although they
got married and had a daughter, the rumors of infidelity were too much for Cardi, and
they broke up in 2018. Eventually, though, they reconciled. As Cardi admitted on Instagram Live,
"I just be starting to miss him. It's hard not to talk to your best friend."
She also joked that the Rolls Royce he bought for her birthday may have played a factor.
Gucci Mane has been called the father of trap music, but he's not the only impressive
breadwinner in his house. His wife Keyshia Ka'oir is a beauty mogul who created a $30 million empire
of cosmetics, fitness, and hair products. The idea for her business was sparked one night in 2009
when she couldn't find a blue lipstick and had to improvise with an eyeshadow. As she told The Cut,
"No one knew my name, no one knew who I was, but everyone wanted to be the girl with the mohawk and
the blue lipstick. I had to come up with my own makeup line, starting with that blue lipstick."
Ka'oir also admitted,
"It gets overwhelming when you’re running so many
successful businesses and you have a successful husband."
But despite that challenge, the pair have stuck together since their flashy 2017 wedding,
which cost $2 million and was documented by the reality show The Mane Event.
Southern hip hop star Jeezy started dating TV personality-slash-stylist
Jeannie Mai in 2018. They eventually tied the knot during lockdown in March 2021. The
ceremony was originally supposed to happen at Lake Como or in the South of France,
but they adapted according to the circumstances. As Mai told Vogue,
"We were really looking forward to having all of our friends and family there to celebrate. But
we had to change all of our wedding plans due to COVID. After Jeezy's mother unexpectedly passed,
we quickly learned that life is too short. And at the end of the day,
Jeezy and I really just wanted to become husband and wife."
"I just remember locking eyes with her and just going like, 'Wow." You know?"
Mai became famous as a stylist on shows like How Do I Look?, and she's now a co-host on the talk
show The Real. She revealed her pregnancy on the latter show in September 2021. As she revealed
to Women's Health around the same time, "Jeezy and I have been kind of saving
this and hiding this for five months. So, we're relieved to finally share the news."
She also admitted,
"Falling in love with Jeezy made me see life differently for myself.
Our love is honest, pure, and safe [...] something I hadn't felt as a child."
If there's one rapper who's famous for being a "wife guy," it's Chance The Rapper. He first
met his now-wife Kirsten Corley when they were both children. He spoke about their
unique love story during a 2019 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, as he revealed,
"My mom worked at a real estate agency with her mom. Her mom threw a Christmas party,
and her daughters love to dance so they did a choreographed dance at this real estate
party that I was at when I was 9. And I saw her dancing and I was like, 'Let's get married!'"
The pair began dating years before Chance's 2013
mixtape Acid Rap blew up and made him a star. As he described it,
"Before I was successful, she was my girlfriend [...] If I'm successful now,
then yes, pre-success."
Corley, a former model and real estate agent, also introduced Chance to Christianity.
While discussing his faith with Nicki Minaj on Queen Radio, he claimed that Corley "literally
saved [his] life" by encouraging him to find God and get baptized after they almost split in 2016.
The couple now have two children, although Corley has been open about their struggles
to keep their marriage strong. As she wrote on Instagram in 2020,
"I hope you see two imperfect human beings who are doing their best to cultivate a home rooted
in Love & Grace. Marriage is difficult [...] But I believe it is worth it,
when you both commit to doing the inner work. A reminder to stand in gratitude,
for the family we have created. flaws & all."
One of the hip hop world's most enduring couples is undoubtedly Ice Cube and Kimberly Woodruff,
whose marriage has lasted almost three decades. Cube remembers thinking that
she could be the one when he first saw her, but the feeling apparently wasn't mutual.
As he recounted during a 2014 interview with Bethenny Frankel,
"I think she was in a relationship, so she wasn't having it. Then I ended up
seeing her about six months later, and it was different, I mean. I got the number then."
"What changed? Just that she didn't have a boyfriend or that you had different swagger?"
"Uh, probably a little of both."
The couple eventually tied the knot in 1992 and now have five children together.
Their oldest, O'Shea Jackson Jr, has launched his own acting career,
and he even played his father in 2015's Straight Outta Compton. And the magic
hasn't faded between the couple. As Cube told morning radio host Rickey Smiley in 2018,
"It's a true partnership. I respect my wife and she respects me.
I still get the butterflies when I see her."
And the romantic gestures haven't stopped either. One time, Cube even decided to
propose for a second time by placing a ring inside a newly purchased BMW.
Southern hip hop star Big Boi has been married to the same woman since 2002,
though they've had their share of ups and downs. Sherlita Patton has an impressive CV of her own.
According to her LinkedIn profile, the Georgia native went to Clark Atlanta
University and has worked as a real estate mogul and an entrepreneur over the years.
She also ran her own clothing boutique with a friend in 2007, which was called P
Valentine. As she explained during an interview with The Envy Life at the time,
"Yes, I am married to Big Boi, but I try not to let that be an element to the store. I just know
that we come here every day, we work very hard, we love what we do, and we just put that into it."
Patton filed for divorce in 2013 and attempted to retain custody of their two kids,
but the couple ultimately managed to reconcile. While speaking to TMZ in 2014,
Big Boi gave credit to one person for saving their marriage: Jesus Christ. The Outkast rapper
explained that their faith had brought them back from the brink of divorce, as he opined,
"The family that prays together stays together."
Snoop Dogg became a household name in the early 90s as he rose to the top of the rap world with
hit songs like "Gin and Juice." And standing by his side and negotiating on his behalf through
it all has been wife, Shante Broadus, who's the founder of Boss Lady Entertainment and the CEO
of Boss Lady Spirits. She became her husband's official manager in June 2021, as Snoop announced,
"Shante has been guiding my career behind the scenes from day one. She has always been my
final gut check with all my decisions, and I wouldn't be where I am today without her.
I am grateful to have her as my official manager, helping to build the Snoop Dogg empire together."
The two first met at a high school football game. As Shante told Showbiz Cheat Sheet in 2021,
"We started talking on the phone, and then he started becoming close with my mom — talking to my
mom more than he’d talk to me. I would come home, and he would be at my house talking to my mom!
They became really close, and now we're married with children. That's how it all started."
And the Broaduses have now been together for so long that they've
been able to add "Grandparents" to their resumes.
"Uncle Snoop is also Granddaddy Snoop."
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