The 2015 Drake hit “Hotline Bling” was inspired by a hookup the artist once had. On the 100 Gigs website, which Drake unveiled on Tuesday (August 6) along with three new singles, there are various folders dedicated to his life experiences. One folder, titled “Hotline Bling,” contains three clips from what appears to be a recording session where he discussed the track’s origin.
In the first video, Drake is seen relaxing on a couch and smoking hookah while repeatedly listening to the song. Toward the end, he gets up and dances on the couch.
The second clip features Drake talking about an unidentified woman whom he nicknamed “Hotline Bling” because her phone would ring continuously right after they hooked up. “We used to be in bed together—we just finished fucking and her phone would be blowing up,” he said. “So I saved her name in my phone as ‘Hotline Bling.’ That’s always been her name on my phone.” He added, “And I was looking at it today, I was like, ‘Hotline Bling’ is a sick name. That should be an artist name.”
Drake also mentioned in the video, presumably recorded in 2015, that he had spoken to the woman that same day and told her that her nickname would be the “Hotline Bling” song title. “I was talking to her today, I was like, ‘Yo your name, your nickname is such a good title for something.’ And then I just told her today, I was like, you know I did a song called ‘Hotline Bling,’ that’s crazy,” he said in the clip.
While the woman who inspired “Hotline Bling” might never reveal herself, the track peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 following its release in July 2015, less than a year before it was featured on Drake’s 2016 album, Views. The song went on to win Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
