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Who is Shadée Monique? All about Joe Budden’s girlfriend

The rumors of Shadée Monique and Joe Budden’s relationship first emerged in 2019
posted by Ashim Arora
Wednesday 7/23/2025 at 2:13AM EDT
  • Joe Budden and Shadée Monique have been together for more than six years (Image via Instagram/@joebudden)
    Joe Budden and Shadée Monique have been together for more than six years (Image via Instagram/@joebudden)

    Joe Budden’s namesake podcast network is on track to rake in over $20 million in revenue in 2025, The New York Times reported in a July 22 profile on the former rapper. Many hailed the success story of the podcasting mogul, who the NYT once described as the “Howard Stern of Hip Hop.”

    Budden’s partner, Shadée Monique, also dedicated one of her Instagram Stories to her boyfriend by reposting his post about The New York Times article and writing,

    “LET THEM KNOW YOU’RE DIFFERENT BABY! @JOEBUDDEN 🤴🏾”

    Shadée Monique's Instagram story about Joe Budden (Image via Instagram/@therealcateyes)

    For those unaware, Shadée Monique is an Instagram model who has also been featured on Joe Budden Network’s Pod Wives with her partner. According to Famous Birthdays, the social media star was born in November 1986 in Houston, Texas. Monique’s Instagram account, @therealcateyes, has more than 787,000 followers, while her X handle of the same name is followed by 55.2k users.

    Shadée is also a mother of three, with her oldest child being Nyheem Richardson, a student-athlete. Nyheem, who previously represented Almeta Crawford High School, currently plays for Spring, Texas–based Legacy School of Sport Sciences. While Monique has posted about her son multiple times in the past, she mentioned her "athletic kids" in a response to a troll on X in July 2024. She wrote,

    “I’m a real mother to amazing , intelligent and extremely athletic kids who are in the recruiting process. I am not moving until they go to college in 2 years. Uprooting my children would do them a major disservice. Please don’t worry about your own situation, we have a plan.”

    Shadée Monique and Joe Budden have been dating for over six years

    The No Love Lost rapper has been involved in multiple high-profile relationships over the years. The rumors of Budden and Monique’s relationship started making the rounds back in 2019, per Capital XTRA. At the time, the rapper-turned-podcaster had broken up with his then-girlfriend Cyn Santana.

    The couple gradually confirmed that they are dating through their social media posts. In May 2022, Monique posted a selfie on Instagram with Budden while they appeared to be on vacation. Since then, Shadée and Joe have appeared on each other’s posts on different occasions.

    On July 18, 2025, the pair celebrated their sixth relationship anniversary. Shadée Monique shared a screenshot of Joe Budden’s track Where Do We Go, and wrote:

    “Listening to old music from my man I realized that he been a menace his entire life.🤣 Today making 6 years that we’ve been together I can’t help but think I might also be a bit tapped to have made it this far with him 🤣@JoeBudden I love you baby! Issa 4eva thing?🤞🏾❤️”

    Shadée had previously defended Joe when Tahiry Jose accused him of abuse. According to XXL Magazine, Monique wrote in a comment on an Instagram post that Budden has never been abusive in their relationship and also mentioned that she’s “not speaking on anyone else’s experience that they may or may not have had.”

    TOPICS: Joe Budden, Joe Budden Network, Shadée Monique, The New York Times