"He is doing anything for the CLOUT" — Netizens react as Drake posts a throwback photo of Nicki Minaj on Instagram

Drake recently took to social media to post a throwback picture of his frequent collaborator and friend, Nicki Minaj. On June 29, 2025, the Canadian rapper uploaded two back-to-back Instagram Stories. The first one was a black-and-white picture of himself that looked quite recent; however, it is unclear when it was taken.

The next story included an old picture of Minaj wearing a blue T-shirt and a black bandana with white stars. It is unclear when and where this was taken, or why the Canadian rapper recently posted it on his Instagram at the time of this article.

Drake's posting of the throwback picture of his former Young Money labelmate was met with mixed responses from netizens, with one user accusing him of posting her for "clout."

"He is doing anything for the CLOUT."

Some netizens reacted to the Instagram Story positively, wondering if this was a precursor to a collaboration. Others praised him for "showing love" to Minaj.

"What does this mean? Are they getting back together?" one person questioned. "Drake showing love like a true homie," another person added. "Old photo, but the bond stays iconic. OVO x Barbie forever?" another fan added.

However, many seemed skeptical about the posting, wondering whether the Canadian rapper had other motives.

"But when she releases music he’s quiet. When she’s getting dragged, he’s quiet. Now that he’s getting dragged, all of a sudden he remembers they’re “friends”," one person tweeted. "So he saw they were cooking him for his fake abs now he trying to divert the story with Nicki’s pics I see through Canadian bbl drizzy," someone else commented. "He has no more friends in the industry so time to go back to Nicki lol," another user said.

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Nicki Minaj recently surpassed Drake's Billboard record

Young Money's Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj recently reunited for a new collaboration following the release of the former's highly anticipated Tha Carter VI album. While Minaj wasn't featured on the album, she dropped a verse for the remix version of the track Banned From No on June 11, which debuted atop the Billboard Rap Digital Sales chart.

According to HipHop DX, this marked the Anaconda rapper's 25th song to achieve the feat. She and Drake had previously tied for the ranking with 24 No. 1s each. However, with Banned From NO, Minaj currently holds the record for the most songs to top the Billboard Rap Digital Sales chart.

Despite her victory, Minaj still showed love to the Canadian rapper with a tweet on June 18, responding to her recent record, writing:

"drizzy mthfkn drake >>>”

The two artists last collaborated on Minaj's song Needle, from her 2023 album Pink Friday 2. During her December 2023 appearance on Kai Cenat's Twitch livestream, Minaj revealed that Needle was initially supposed to be part of Drizzy's album For All The Dogs, released earlier that year.

Minaj continued that the Canadian rapper asked her if he wanted to release the song on her album because it didn't fit the "sonic vibe" of his album, saying:

"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, ‘F**k yes!’

During her show in Toronto amid her "Pink Friday 2 World Tour," Minaj surprised fans when she brought out Drake to debut the track live in April 2024. She welcomed her fellow rapper on stage by describing him as the "king of Toronto," also dubbing him a "legend" and an "icon."

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Drake's latest Instagram picture went viral

In other news, a picture of Drake showing off his six-pack abs on his Instagram recently went viral on social media. According to HOT 97, the picture had people questioning the authenticity of the abs, with many alluding to the often-repeated rhetoric that the rapper underwent plastic surgery.

The rumors that the Canadian rapper had cosmetic surgery done extended beyond social media, becoming a key point his rivals used against him in many of his rap battles.

Both Kendrick Lamar and Rick Ross have alluded to the rumors in diss tracks, and Metro Boomin popularized the phrase "BBL Drizzy" when he released a free beat with the tagline in 2024.

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Drake has not responded to the recent social media commentary surrounding his new picture as of this article.

Edited by Riya Peter