Needle (song)

"Needle" is a song by Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj featuring Canadian rapper Drake from the former's fifth studio album Pink Friday 2 (2023). It was produced by Boi-1da and YogiTheProducer.

Background
During a guest appearance on Kai Cenat's Twitch stream, Nicki Minaj revealed the song was originally intended for Drake's album For All the Dogs. She said:

"And right when I got it the first time, I was like, 'I hope something happens and it ends up being on my album, 'cause I like it. Then at the end, Drake, when he was about to turn in For All the Dogs, he sent me two songs. Anyway, to make a long story short, that same day he also told me, 'Hey, I'm not using it for the album 'cause it doesn't fit the sonic vibe. Do you want it?' And I was like, 'Fuck yes!'"

Composition
The song opens with a sampled voicemail from American singer SZA. In regard to style, "Needle" is inspired by dancehall and Afrobeats, and has also been described as "tropical house bop" and "bumpy, island-tinged R&B". Through sing-rapping vocals, Drake performs the first verse and chorus, in which he sings: "Pull up the Maybach and bend your leg back / Let's engage that, don't delay that / You're like a needle, life's a haystack / Friends they can leave us, you could stay back". The track also makes lyrical reference to Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk.

Critical reception
Alexander Cole of HotNewHipHop wrote, "This song has some nice wavy production, with Drake kicking off the song with some song vocals. Nicki Minaj matches this energy and provides some solid vocals of her own. The chemistry between these two artists is still there, and you can't help but love hearing them together again." With respect to Minaj's performance, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Pitchfork commented that "Flashes of her notorious humor emerge" in the song. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times regarded the artists' collaboration as "surprisingly listless". Nick Malone of PopMatters described the song as "an obvious leftover from Drake's For All the Dogs, defined by his signature anesthetized mumble-singing and an uninspired Nicki verse that cries out for the lightweight fun of 'Only' or 'Truffle Butter'."