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This Is What Nicki Minaj Means When She Says She’s “Single”

“They don’t want me to write this caption”

As you all know, Nicki Minaj is NYLON's cover star this month. In her riveting feature, which provided a meticulous outline on how to be a boss, the Queen briefly glossed over her relationship with rapper Meek Mill. 

“I’m not engaged yet,” she told us. “He said that my third ring would be my engagement ring. But sometimes he calls me his fiancée, and I’m always trying to stop him, like, ‘Nope! I ain’t got that third ring yet!’ We’re just taking it one step at a time. And, you know, if that happens, if I get married, then I’ll have a child, and that’ll be fun, because I can’t wait to hold my baby. When he and I were just friends, he would always say, ‘You remind me of my mother, and I like that because you’re like a dude. You’re tough like a guy and you talk like a dude.’ So I always got the sense that me being tough and bossy was a turn-on for him. And it’s important for me to keep my voice. Being in a relationship shouldn’t mean that you lose your voice. Being in a relationship should mean that you’ve met a secure-enough man to allow you, in a sense, to remain a queen.”

This week, Minaj made a guest appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Given the opportunity, most people ask the rapper about her alleged engagement ring so it wasn't a shocker that DeGeneres brought it up. As expected, Minaj sort of laughed it off by joking about how the cameras were probably zooming in on her hands. She immediately shut down the rumor and insisted that a third ring would indicate their engagement.

What we didn't see coming, though? Minaj re-claiming her single status. When asked if she's ready to get engaged, the rapper segwayed into a completely different lane.

"You know, I don't know. We're still figuring each other out," she said. "And in fact, I don't even want to say that I'm in a relationship anymore, because I think when people hear that, they go to like the mean place and try to like—not you, though. You're super. I love you to death."

From there, Minaj explained how she kept her previous relationship with Safaree Samuels under wraps even though they had been together for 12 years. "You just have to do you and make yourself happy and forget about trying to get everyone's approval," she said. "It's better just to keep those things sacred. So, now, I don't really care to say 'I'm in a relationship' or 'I'm engaged' or whatever. There's a boy that likes me. That's all." 

We're not sure what to make of it, but there's no doubt that everyone is probably wondering if Nicki and Meek are still together. To be honest, we were never sure how long the couple would last, but after they flexed on everyone with their GQ spread, we assumed it must be serious. "He and I are just two souls right now passing through the universe, and I don't know what's going to happen," she added. "I just have learned over the years to just let things be and come and go as they are going to come and go."

Watch her break it all down in the clip, below.

UPDATE 4/7/2016 1:35PM: Nicki Minaj went on Instagram to confirm that she is, in fact, not single at this current time. Thank you very much.