Drake has revealed that he originally wanted Future to collaborate with him on his hit 2015 song ‘Hotline Bling’.
It was revealed as the Canadian rapper shared 100GB (gigabytes) worth of data earlier this week, including previously unseen footage and three new songs.
Elsewhere on the new website, titled 100gigs.org, numerous videos were shared, including some that were recorded around the time that he recorded ‘Hotline Bling’. In one of these, Drake is seen doing hookah in the studio while listening back to the song being produced, discussing his thoughts on it.
“It’s melody but it’s a vibe,” he is heard saying (via Rolling Stone). “When I was writing it, I wrote it as a Shy Glizzy song… That’s why I was asking if we should put Future on this shit.”
“Me and future on this shit…” he continued before someone else in the studio told him: “You gotta wait.”
In a separate clip, the rapper is heard explaining how the title of the song arose – recalling that it comes as a result of a hookup.
“We used to be in bed together. We just finished fucking and her phone would be blowing up, so I saved her name in my phone as ‘Hotline Bling’…That’s always been her name in my phone,” he recalled.
“Hotline Bling is a sick name, it should be my artist name. If I was a dancehall artist, I would be Hotline Bling.”
‘Hotline Bling’ featured on Drake’s 2016 album ‘Views’, and remains one of his most famous tracks to date. It peaked at Number Two on the Billboard singles charts, and also took home two Grammys – one for Best Rap Song and one for Best Rap/Sung Performance.
According to RS, other footage in the 100GB of data includes clips of Drake rehearsing with Rihanna for a live performance of ‘Take Care’, videos of him recording his feature in Kanye West’s ‘Yikes’, scrapped songs and extended versions of his previously shared tracks.
In other news about the rapper, Drake has recently quoted rival Kendrick Lamar‘s ‘Not Like Us’ in response to an impersonator dancing along to ‘Hotline Bling’, and also appeared on two new songs from producer Gordo’s new album ‘Diamante’.
As for Future, while he never went on to appear on ‘Hotline Bling’, the Atlanta rapper is currently embarking on his joint headline tour with Metro Boomin, following the two dropping their pair of collaborative albums – March’s ‘We Don’t Trust You’ and April’s ‘We Still Don’t Trust You’.
