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During last night’s Love and Hip Hop New York reunion (part two), viewers saw a side of Safaree Samuels that was very different from what we’re used to. A man known for being silly, jovial, in touch with his emotions and friendly with everybody decided to call people out on their stuff, and honestly, it was a backbone that was past due to show up for the 37-year-old rapper and songwriter.
After coming late to the show, Safaree, in shades, was asked about the drama that ensued during the group trip to Costa Rica because of his relationship with Erica Mena, whom he brought along but kept away from everyone. Despite his efforts to separate her from anyone who might have an issue with her presence there, he was still jumped on pretty aggressively by Joe Budden and his lady, Cyn Santana, for not letting them know she was coming. They felt a heads up was necessary due to Erica’s past with Cyn. He was also confronted later by Rich Dollaz, who despite treating Erica like trash when they were off and on, felt like he needed to be told up front and honestly about Safaree’s intentions with her. The nerve.
Safaree aptly got each and every one of those people together for their hypocrisy and disrespect. As he would point out, Joe had the opportunity to confront him about his issues with Erica’s presence while they were riding together to the bonfire where he turned up. Safaree said he didn’t do so, and chose to turn up in front of the rest of the cast and the world because the cameras were at the beachside activity. He also said that while he was given a hard time about bringing Erica to Costa Rica, Joe and Cyn didn’t have that same energy when Erica was present at Remy Ma and Papoose’s baby shower. In fact, he said they spoke to her, so they decided to pick and choose when to be aggressive and with whom they would get aggressive with. Again, Safaree should have just been honest, but then again, he didn’t owe anybody a play-by-play on his moves with his partner if that’s a partnership he wanted to protect.
I was also glad to see that certain people in the cast spoke up to call out the overreaction to Safaree’s decision, including Remy (who asked why it was an issue if they never even saw Erica in Costa Rica) and Yandy Smith (who said he had every right to protect his relationship). And while Safaree was justified in calling people out for their foolishness and posturing, Cyn included, I could also respect that he admitted that he was being the way he was because he felt he was being attacked, and eventually apologized to Cyn if she felt he had disrespected her (not Joe though). That ended on a good note.
As for Rich Dollaz, well, not so much. When asked about him feeling like Safaree needed to let him know about his relationship with Erica, Rich went on to insult her, alluding to the idea of her being with quite a few other men after him. In response, Safaree called him out for his tight pants and disrespectful comments. Rich would then, for some reason, try and jump over a table, rep the Eastside quite aggressively and run down a hallway to get to Safaree, but was unsuccessful. However, he was successful in proving he was pressed like a panini, which Safaree hilariously pointed out.
“You Ok, Rich? I saw your ankle twist!”
With all that being said, I’m well aware that this is a temporary side of Safaree. As he soon showed, he’s quick to return to shouting “Straaaaaaight!” while rubbing coconut oil on himself and busting out dance moves. He is who he is, haters be damned. However, I was glad to see him truly stick up for himself and his fiancée.
Whether on camera or off, people tend to treat Safaree as though he’s easy pickings to make fun of and disrespect, including everyone from his ex-girlfriend to his so-called friends. Because he’s a lighthearted and cheerful guy most of the time, people use that as a reason to punk him, despite the fact that they don’t maintain that same energy with anyone else. It’s sad when you think about it, that being kind and fun and confident in yourself tends to come with people who make every attempt to poke at you for it. However, it looks as though Safaree’s finally learned how to cope with it. If he’s truly going to marry a sharpshooter like Erica, who we saw is a very controversial topic among this group, he’s going to have to pull out this side of himself a lot more often. If you ask us, it’s about time.
Plenty of people were rooting for a gully version of Safaree during the reunion finale. Hit the flip to see the reactions to his interactions with Joe, Cyn, Rich and more.
