Hotline Bling

On July 31, 2015, Drake dropped Hotline Bling as a promotional single, and it quickly became one of his most defining tracks, despite being a bonus cut on his album Views. Built around a sample of Timmy Thomas's 1972 plea Why Can't We Live Together, the song pairs a minimalist beat with Drake's melodic, frustrated vocals. He chronicles a former lover who now parties in the city while he waits by the phone, a dynamic many interpreted as a reference to a Toronto ex known as Nebby. The production, handled by Nineteen85, drew comparisons to DJ Mustard's signature sound and helped push Drake further into pop-R&B territory.

The music video, directed by Director X and released October 26, 2015, became a cultural event on its own. Shot in a neon-lit multistory set with shifting colored rooms, the clip features Drake's now-legendary awkward dance moves, a stiff, bouncy shuffle that spawned thousands of parodies, from Ellen DeGeneres to the Harvard basketball team. The video's aesthetic borrowed from James Turrell's light installations and painter Anthony Lister, creating a visual that felt both high-art and meme-ready. It currently sits at over 1.8 billion YouTube views.

Commercially, Hotline Bling peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 34 weeks on the chart. It hit number 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for ten weeks and reached the top 5 in Canada, the UK, and Australia. The song earned Drake two Grammys in 2017, Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance, plus an American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Song. Its influence extended beyond music: the DEA even named a 2024 drug operation after the track. [edit]