Nivea’s career stalled after her hits “Don’t Mess with My Man” and “Laundromat.” During a recent interview on Kandi Burruss’s show On That Note, the singer detailed what happened, and explained how Lil Wayne played a part in her absence from music.
According to Nivea, Wayne—who fathered her son, Neal Carter—persuaded her to quit her career.
“He said, ‘Come be with me. I got you,’” she said, adding that she then sent a letter to her label that said she was leaving music.
“I’m just sitting there, like, being a housewife… and you know, Reginae [Carter] was very young,” Nivea explained. “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.”
The Toya she refers to is Toya Johnson, mother to Lil Wayne’s daughter, Reginae.
Nivea also described how she and Weezy met back in 2002. After “Don’t Mess With My Man” dropped, Wayne called Nivea’s label and said he wanted to do a song with her, later confessing that he did that just so he could get her number. Their relationship escalated from there, with them getting engaged in late 2002. Two years later, she married The-Dream and Weezy married Johnson, which she found out about by surprise when Wayne gave a speech at a birthday party he hosted.
However, it seems like Nivea has a good relationship with Johnson and Lauren London, who also shares a son with the rapper. Nivea posted a clip of the interview to her Instagram, which garnered responses from both Johnson and London.
“Love you. You are pure magic and strength,” London wrote. “Great interview. So proud of you,” Johnson also chimed in.
