Eminem and Nicki Minaj are just friends, but are dating rumors the rapper's best marketing strategy yet?
"Told em' I met Slim Shady, bagged a Em
Once he go black, he'll be back again"
These are the lyrics that started it all. When Nicki Minaj rapped these verses in the YG song 'Big Bank,' fans wondered if she had left an Easter Egg about her dating life in the song.
She further added fuel to the fire when she posted a video on Instagram, lip-syncing the lyrics. Fans truly believed these particular words held special meaning for the rapper.
And, when one of her fans decided to be outright and ask her about it on social media, none of us were truly prepared for her answer. On Friday, May 25, Nicki said "yes," when she was asked if she was dating Slim Shady.
Eminem too, got in on the conversation by adding, "Girl, you know it's true." Nicki responded with a flirty little, "Babe, I thought we were gonna keep it on the low til the wedding. Yikes. I'll talk to you when I get home. [sic]"
The fans went into a frenzy and people started wondering, "In what world does this coupling make sense?" However, when the rumors and speculations – which she started, to be fair – got too much, Nicki confessed that she was only joking and that she was not in fact, dating Eminem.
The ball was then in 45-year-old Eminem's court, who wasted no time in revealing he was very much interested in dating the voluptuous queen of rap.
Eminem, who was closing out Boston Calling, a three-day music festival, in fact, decided to seek his fans' advice before admitting his own "true feelings" regarding a potential romance with her.
“Yo Boston, how many people in here want me to date Nicki Minaj?” Eminem asked the audience, adding, “So wait, one more time: Let me make sure so I can actually make this official. How many people want me to date Nicki Minaj?” When the crowd gave a resoundingly positive response, he said, “Well goddamnit, me too!”
He then added, “We’ll figure this s**t out. How we’re gonna deal with this publicly?”
Well now that the woman and man have both expressed interest in dating the other, no further ado, right? Not so fast. Nicki, who opened this can of worms, seems to have backtracked, having now effectively put Eminem in the friend zone with a single tweet.
“LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. The fact that he’s silly & a goof just like me,” she wrote. “Love him so much. Em we need you on the #Queen album. That’s where our 1st date will be; at the studio while I gaze into ur beautiful eyes as u write ur verse. [sic]”
So now, the first date is basically them working together on her upcoming album, which is set for release on August 10.
While an official tracklist for the album is yet to be revealed, we do know that it will feature her already popular singles “Chun-Li” and “Barbie Tingz”.
Some of the collaborations that have been teased for the album include Nicki's supposed nemesis Cardi B, Drake and Lil Wayne. While all of these features would excite the fans, none of them would have the same impact that a potential Eminem collaboration would at this point.
If this little Twitter flirtations that baited fans amount to anything, it is brilliant marketing strategy for 'Queen,' which is coming out in August.
Nicki, who is obviously very proud of her album, will use any means necessary to promote it. After all, she had called it her “best body of work."
The duo has had a very successful collaboration in Nicki's debut album 'Pink Friday,' wherein Em rapped a few verses in the song 'Roman’s Revenge'. Our love for each of these rappers' work and the brilliant quality of their previous joint venture were enough to convince fans to make any potential 'Queen' collaboration number one on the charts.
However, this poor marketing gimmick has left most of us fans with a bad taste. Then again, we can appreciate the shrewd brilliance behind it, as well.