All About Laughs
R&B singer Nivea is experiencing a bit of a resurgence right now thanks to her participation on reality show Encore on BET. The series, which stars Nivea and several girl group alumni trying to form a supergroup, has allowed the Atlanta native to show off her vocal chops and infectious personality clearly becoming the meme magnet of the show. While doing promo for the new series, Nivea spoke with The Breakfast Club’s Angela Yee on her podcast Lip Service. She divulged new information on her 2001 collaboration with controversial singer R. Kelly.
So I like BET Presents Encore.
— Girl, shut up (@rmlundyjr) June 10, 2021
Solely because of Nivea. pic.twitter.com/Ac8e4TLeIT
Nivea has had a rough got at it in recent years. Despite a promising start in the music industry, label politics and relationships soon lead to her career being derailed indefinitely. She eventually went on to have children with hitmaking songwriter The-Dream before getting back with on-again off-again boyfriend Lil Wayne. The two share one child together.
Nivea’s baby father is the dream and lil Wayne right? #TheEncoreBET
— clean the tub, Rev Run! (@AnttDave) June 10, 2021
Nivea has been candid about Wayne, admitting to being deeply embarrassed and hurt when she realized that she and actress Laura London has been pregnant by Wayne at the same time. “I found out the day I was confirmed pregnant with our son that he had another one that should be expected three months ahead of ours,” Nivea said. “I’m like ‘Wow.’ I ended our relationship while I was carrying our son was because I couldn’t take that. I thought I could. I’m a different type of woman.” She admits to later reaching out to London and surprisingly forming a bond with her, one that helped her through the pregnancy and recent loss of her mother.
Nivea also admits to slipping into addiction for some time, an issue she says ran in her family. “I come from an addicted family; both of my parents were [addicts]” she shared. “My mom got off and my dad struggled over the years, and recently, over the past year, went to rehab, but that was the last 30 years of my life. The struggle is real. I was real caught up with [the coke] situation. It was pretty bad.”
In her recent sitdown with Angela Yee, she denied that anything every happened between herself and R. Kelly when they worked together, but did recall him flirting with her. Admitting that she was naive to his creepy tendencies, but also noting that “The thing is, being in the industry as a young, little girl or a young female, the industry is filled with men. Everybody’s trying to talk to you, girl!”
