Hotline Bling

Hotline Bling is the song where Drake's pop instincts, his nostalgia mode, and his ability to start internet conversations all collided. Built on Nineteen85's interpolation of Timmy Thomas's 1972 soul standard 'Why Can't We Live Together,' the track moves on a single drum-machine pulse, faint chimes, and a high, light vocal performance from Drake. The hook is widely read as a one-sided lament about a former partner who has changed since he left town — a complaint about her new life, framed as concern. Released first as a SoundCloud loosie in July 2015 and later attached to the Views rollout, the song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and lingered on the chart for a year. Director X's surreal pastel-cube video became one of the most-parodied music videos of all time, with Drake's exaggerated, deliberately awkward choreography spawning countless GIFs, dance challenges, and SNL sketches. The track also surfaced years later in beef discourse, when Pusha T's 'The Story of Adidon' challenged Drake's writing on the song. As a piece of pop, Hotline Bling is widely cited as one of the songs that made Drake's brand of melodic petty-grievance writing inescapable.