Beyonce co-signed underground Virginia artist D.R.A.M’s “Cha Cha” one day on Instagram then Drake dropped “Hotline Bling” kind of echoing “Cha Cha”. Since then, “Hotline Bling” has been remixed by Erykah Badu, Kehlani, and Keyshia Cole just to name a few artists.
I know what you guys are thinking, “Hotline Bling” is a remix itself. But Drake explained the similarities of both tracks on his FADER 100 cover story:
You know, like in Jamaica, you’ll have a riddim and it’s like, everyone has to do a song on that. Imagine that in rap, or imagine that in R&B. Imagine if we got one beat and every single person—me, this guy, this guy, all these guys—had to do a song on that one beat. So sometimes I’ll pick a beat that’s a bit, like, sunnier, I guess is the word you used, than usual, and I just try my hand at it. And that’s kind of what ‘Hotline Bling’ was. And I loved it. It’s cool. I’ve been excited by that sort of creative process.
D.R.A.M finally broke his silence about “Hotline Bling” on Twitter last night:
Just performed in Toronto for the 1st time tonight and it was bittersweet.
— D.R.A.M. not DRAM (@ONLY1DRAM) October 20, 2015
Sweet cus I’m out here sharing my music, my sound with the people.. — D.R.A.M. not DRAM (@ONLY1DRAM) October 20, 2015
Bitter though, cus after my performance all I’m seeing is Cha Cha/Hotline Bling comparisons on my timeline.
— D.R.A.M. not DRAM (@ONLY1DRAM) October 20, 2015
Niggas want to know how I feel about that… — D.R.A.M. not DRAM (@ONLY1DRAM) October 20, 2015
Yeah, I feel I got jacked for my record…But I’m GOOD.
— D.R.A.M. not DRAM (@ONLY1DRAM) October 20, 2015
I’m happy that the VA sound that me & @GabeNiles are steady working on is growing. And in 2016 we gon’ own it, GAHDAMN!. — D.R.A.M. not DRAM (@ONLY1DRAM) October 20, 2015
After he finished venting, Erykah Badu went on Twitter and gave D.R.A.M the recognition he deserves:
@ONLY1DRAM we loved Cha Cha first. Very unique and raw. That’s That underground magic force that sparks a seed to grow a tree. . . Ms. badu
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) October 20, 2015
Let’s see what other artists D.R.A.M can influence after we hear some more of his work on his forthcoming EP, GAHDAM!, set to release on October 23rd.
How about a Drake and D.R.A.M. collabo? A “Hotline Bling/Cha Cha” remix perhaps? – @miss2bees
S/O to @ONLY_NY for the many blessings??? pic.twitter.com/syLpC2Dk1t — D.R.A.M. not DRAM (@ONLY1DRAM) July 9, 2015
