Released: December 15, 2014

Featuring: Jessie Ware

Songwriter: OAK Steve Mostyn Andrew “Pop” Wansel Jessie Ware Nicki Minaj

Producer: Pop & Oak

[Verse 1: Nicki Minaj]
Here we go again, it's the game we love
Sheets all over the floor and they laced with drugs
You ain't play your cards right, you had the Ace of Clubs
Hit you with the Ace of Spade in your face and shrugged
Blood drippin' out your arm on my Asian rugs
We was just plannin' a wedding, Caucasian doves
You was just tellin' your mans that you hate the clubs
Now we in the crying game, heart laced with slugs

[Pre-Chorus: Nicki Minaj]
Are you alone? Do you need someone?
Is it too late to talk? Did I wait too long?
Thousand words don't change a thing
Is it only three, three words that you're missing?

[Chorus: Jessie Ware]
Where'd you go? Couldn't see, I was too busy
Could've just said no, where would you go? I think I know
Oh-oh, oh-oh
We're back to playing, we're back to playing
Oh-oh, oh-oh
We're back to playing the crying game

[Post-Chorus: Jessie Ware]
I could've given everything
Don't wanna let the tears begin
We're back to playing the crying game
I could've given everything
Don't wanna let the tears begin
We're back to playing the crying game

[Verse 2: Nicki Minaj]
Welcome to the crying game, where you lose your soul
Where it ain't no E-Z Pass, you gotta use the toll
Ain't no cruise control, you 'bout to lose control
Ain't no smilin' faces here, we slammin' doors and dishes
Sayin' we don't miss each other, but it's all fictitious
Sayin' that we had enough, but enough of what?
Another slap to the face, another uppercut
I'm just abusive by nature, not 'cause I hate ya
Not 'cause I wanna get someone to imitate ya
I know it's hard, I know I intimidate ya
But is you stayin' or goin'?
I couldn't breathe and you ain't even know it
How come you never show it? All this love you speak of
All I want is to love and be loved (To love and be loved)

[Pre-Chorus: Nicki Minaj]
I'm losin' a thing I thought I'd win
And I'm comin' undone
'Cause the tears don't end

[Chorus: Jessie Ware]
Where'd you go? Couldn't see, I was too busy
Could've just said no, where would you go? I think I know
Oh-oh, oh-oh
We're back to playing, we're back to playing
Oh-oh, oh-oh
We're back to playing the crying game

[Post-Chorus: Jessie Ware]
I could've given everything (Everything)
Don't wanna let the tears begin (Everything)
We're back to playing the crying game
I could've given everything
Don't wanna let the tears begin
We're back to playing the crying game

[Outro: Jessie Ware]
Oh-oh, oh-oh
Oh-oh, oh-oh

Nicki Minaj

Born December 8, 1982, Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-American rapper, actress, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur.

Nicki was discovered by Lil Wayne via her mixtapes Sucka Free and Beam Me Up Scotty, and broke into the mainstream as an artist signed to Wayne’s label Young Money Entertainment. Her first successful songs, “Your Love,” “Moment 4 Life” (with Drake), and the smash-hit “Super Bass,” are featured on her 2010 chart-topping debut album Pink Friday.

She continued her run with her second studio album, Pink Roman Reloaded, which contained “Starships,” a song which would further develop Nicki’s pop/rap style. “Starships” gave Nicki a Billboard milestone, when it charted for 21 weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, a feat no other artist has achieved without the aid of streaming services.