39-year-old singer Nivea revealed some shocking details about her music journey in the early 2000s.
During an interview on Kandi Burruss’ On That Note YouTube series, the star who garnered much success in the R&B world after her hits “Don’t Mess With My Man” and “Laundromat,” shared with the Xscape songstress that she was persuaded to leave the music industry by Lil Wayne during the height of her career.
The Atlanta native recalled Wayne dialing up her management after he saw her video for “Don’t Mess With My Man.” The rapper expressed his excitement about working with the singer at the time. However, he later admitted that it was just an attempt to get her number.
As their relationship blossomed, Wayne eventually convinced Nivea to leave the music industry for good, promising to take care of her financially.
“He said, ‘Come be with me. I got you,’” the star shared, noting that she even sent a letter to her label stating that she would be stepping away from her contract.
Nivea said at one point during their relationship Wayne had suggested the pair move into an apartment which she thought was odd. Little did she know it was an attempt to move former TV personality Toya Johnson into the home they once shared.
Johnson who was Wayne’s high school sweetheart would go on to marry the “6 Foot 7 Foot” rapper in 2004 and divorced after two years.
“I’m just sitting there, like, being a housewife… and you know, Reginae [Carter] was very young,” Nivea recalled of the painful experience. “All of a sudden—this is kind of funny—he was like, ‘I ain’t never stay in an apartment before. Let’s get an apartment.’
So we move out the house and get an apartment but I never realized he did that to move Toya [Johnson] back in the house.”