Nicki Minaj promises to help boyfriend Meek Mill avoid jail in parole hearing

Nicki Minaj has promised a judge in America that she'll help boyfriend Meek Mill to follow his parole rules so he can avoid being sent back to jail.

Prosecutors are claiming that the 28-year-old rapper has changed his travel schedule without court approval and had missed a drug test.

It's after Meek Mill was jailed in 2008 on drug dealing and gun charges.

Nicki Minaj promised to keep him on the straight and narrow after a judge said he was "thumbing his nose" at her.

There have been rumours this week that the pair have got engaged.

Nicki Minaj showed off a diamond ring on her wedding finger earlier this week.

The 33-year-old said they were living together and that she might have more influence over the rapper than his parole officer.

Nicki Minaj was testifying on Thursday in Philadelphia, after a defence lawyer said the couple were seriously discussing marriage.

"She (the parole officer) is not going to be the one sleeping alone if he goes to jail. I am," Nicki told the judge.

"He's not perfect, but I can't believe how much he's changed."

The singer, who has just received three more Grammy nominations, said she would help him stay organised and carry out the rest of his community service.

Judge Genece Brinkley is threatening to send Mill to jail when the hearing continues next Thursday, as she did for a few months last year.

She said the rapper, whose real name is Robert Williams, had submitted a suspicious urine sample.

Meek Mill is expected to testify when the hearing resumes.

The rapper's lawyer Frank DeSimone called the music business chaotic and said Mill wasn't trying to disrespect the judge.

Nicki Minaj has three rap nominations ahead of next year's Grammy Music Awards

"He doesn't have a lot of structure. He can be irresponsible," said Nicki Minaj, who was sworn in at court under her birth name, Onika Maraj.

"Since I've come in his life, I think I've been working on that a little bit. He's just getting accustomed to being an adult."

Judge Genece Brinkley has previously ordered Meek Mill to have etiquette, anger management and parenting classes and has also extended his probation on several occasions.

"He is thumbing his nose at me and I haven't been convinced otherwise," the judge warned Meek Mill's lawyer as the hearing ended.

Last year, a jury rejected a case he'd filed against Philadelphia police over what he called a racially-motivated, 10-hour traffic stop that led him to miss the launch party for his 2012 debut album, Dreams & Nightmares.

He has since issued the follow-up, Dreams Worth More Than Money, while touring and performing with Nicki Minaj and Jay Z, among others.

He's also been involved in a war of words against Canadian rapper Drake, who he suggested didn't write his own raps.

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