Drake Accused Of Stealing D.R.A.M.’s “Cha Cha” For “Hotline Bling”

Carl Williott | October 20, 2015 9:54 am

UPDATE (2:35 p.m. ET): Drake hasn’t responded to D.R.A.M.’s comments yet, but The Fader shared previously unpublished quotes from Drake about the connection between “Hotline Bling” and “Cha Cha,” from their September interview. His comments are below, followed by our original post.

“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.”

Drake‘s “Hotline Bling” has a legitimate chance to overtake The Weeknd‘s “The Hills” at the Hot 100’s top spot thanks to its new video, which would make it his first chart-topping single. But before that happens, he has found himself in the middle of a beef over the song. Virginia rapper D.R.A.M. performed in Drake’s hometown last night and shortly afterward let fans know he thinks Drake’s hit jacks his song “Cha Cha.”

D.R.A.M. called the Toronto show “bittersweet,” tweeting: “after my performance all I’m seeing is Cha Cha/Hotline Bling comparisons on my timeline…Yeah, I feel I got jacked for my record…But I’m GOOD.”

He’s not the only one noticing the similarities. When “Hotline Bling” first premiered on Apple Radio, Beats 1 flat-out called it a “Cha Cha” remix, and this was after Drake had made a habit of dropping his remixes on his OVO Sound show. Erykah Badu, who recently remixed the Drake track, replied to D.R.A.M. on Twitter saying his song was the “magic force that sparks a seed to grow a tree.”

Even if Drake did use “Cha Cha” as a starting point, though, it was transformed from that Super Mario World-sampling novelty party ode into a paranoid breakup ballad. So it’s not like he just threw his voice onto another dude’s track and took the credit. But should Drake retroactively give D.R.A.M. a writing credit, as is post-“Blurred Lines” tradition?

Listen to both songs below and you be the judge.

[via Pitchfork]

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