The Crying Game

Album: The Pinkprint (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Minaj wrote the lyric to this song about her ex-boyfriend Safaree Samuels. The couple had an 11-year relationship, and according to Minaj he wanted to get married, but she wanted to hold off.

    Both Minaj and Samuels blame her rise to fame as a catalyst for their split, but for different reasons: Samuels says she started treating him like an employee, and Minaj says he changed when she became so successful.

    "This business changed people that I really loved, and it's scary," Minaj said. "They start worshiping material things and forget about good, old-fashioned things like love and trust."

    In the song, Minaj acknowledges she is partly to blame for it not working out: "I'm just abusive by nature, not cause I hate ya."
  • This song features a vocal contribution by Jessie Ware. It marks the first time the Trinidadian rapper and British singer have teamed up.
  • This shares its title with a 1992 movie and also its theme song, which was a hit for Boy George.
  • The production duo Pop & Oak sent Minaj the song's demo with Jessie Ware singing. The rapper asked Beyoncé to sing on it but they decided on "Feeling Myself" instead. "There was something so haunting about Jessie Ware's voice," Minaj said. "It had both (ex-boyfriend) Safaree and I in a trance for days."
  • Minaj didn't anticipate writing deeply personal tracks like this one when she set to work on The Pinkprint, but the album ended up being "an emotional roller coaster" for the singer, chronicling her real life ups and downs. "Brokenness leads to art sometimes, and I was really really broken writing this," she said of "The Crying Game."

Comments: 1

  • Honeyfilth from Londonso natasha bedingfield just doesnt exist?
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many Songs

Who's Johnny, And Why Does He Show Up In So Many SongsSong Writing

For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.

Jimmy Webb

Jimmy WebbSongwriter Interviews

Webb talks about his classic songs "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park."

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.

Women Who Rock

Women Who RockSong Writing

Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.