:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(770x0:772x2)/nicki-minaj1-510caea580fc4b889fda4150e6811102.jpg)
Play all audios:
Nicki Minaj on Being Single for the First Time in 20 Years: It's 'Okay to Keep Your Legs Closed' "Becoming single was one of the things that made me feel strong and powerful," the rapper
told Elle
By Jeff Nelson Jeff Nelson Jeff Nelson is the Senior Music Editor at PEOPLE. He has been with the brand since 2014, editing, writing and reporting across entertainment verticals. People
Editorial GuidelinesPublished on June 13, 2018 03:10PM EDT Nicki Minaj is single and not ready to mingle.
In Elle‘s July cover story, the “Chun-Li” rapper, 35, opens up about living the single life for the first time in 20 years.
“It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever been single,” Minaj — who has been in serious relationships since she was 15 — told the women’s glossy.
“I remember feeling like I could do anything at one time in my life, and somewhere along the line, I just started second guessing myself, for whatever reason,” she added. “As soon as I
realized that I could actually live and breathe, and eat and sleep, and walk and talk without having a boyfriend, something clicked in me.”
Karl Lagerfeld That epiphany fuels much of her upcoming fourth studio album, Queen, due Aug. 10.
“Becoming single was one of the things that made me feel strong and powerful,” she said. “The fact that I am a young woman who doesn’t need a man for money. I don’t need a man for a job.
I’ve never had to f— for beats. I’ve never had to f— for a record deal. I don’t have those pressures. I get up when I want, shop when I want.”
Karl Lagerfeld The Grammy-nominated performer said the album — which includes new single “Rich Sex” — is about “it being okay to keep your legs closed.”
RELATED VIDEO: It’s #NickiDay! Nicki Minaj Drops Singles ‘Chun-Li’ and ‘Barbie Tingz’ – and Twitter Explodes!
Minaj was last romantically linked to Nas. She also famously dated Meek Mill and Safaree Samuels.