D.R.A.M. made his way into Toronto last night (October 19) as part of Chance the Rapper's "Family Matters Tour," and used his offstage time to address the similarities between his signature "Cha Cha" single and Drake's big-time "Hotline Bling" over social media.
D.R.A.M.'s tweets came shortly after the online premiere of the 6 God's new video for "Hotline Bling," which has him two-stepping to a digitized Cubano rhythm in front of a series of neon-lit backdrops. D.R.A.M. apparently caught an eyeful of the clip through various social media feeds that suggested the beats between the two songs are quite similar. D.R.A.M. agrees.
Despite noting that the "Cha Cha" beat got "jacked," D.R.A.M. seems to be taking most of this in stride. All things considered, he's doing pretty damn "GOOD" right now. On top of his current tour with Chance the Rapper, he's set to issue his Gahdamn! EP this Friday (October 23) via Atlantic. If anything, it seems like he's bummed that everyone else is haranguing him over the alleged beat biting.
As previously reported, the VA rapper has treated listeners to early streams of Gahdamn! tracks "$" and "Caretaker."
The "Family Matters Tour" rolls into Montreal tomorrow night (October 21). You'll find the rest of Chance, D.R.A.M., Towkio and Metro Boomin's tour routing over here.
UPDATE (10/20, 5 p.m.): The Fader has published a previously unused quote from Drake about his song's similarities to "Cha Cha." He said at the time:
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.'s tweets came shortly after the online premiere of the 6 God's new video for "Hotline Bling," which has him two-stepping to a digitized Cubano rhythm in front of a series of neon-lit backdrops. D.R.A.M. apparently caught an eyeful of the clip through various social media feeds that suggested the beats between the two songs are quite similar. D.R.A.M. agrees.
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
Despite noting that the "Cha Cha" beat got "jacked," D.R.A.M. seems to be taking most of this in stride. All things considered, he's doing pretty damn "GOOD" right now. On top of his current tour with Chance the Rapper, he's set to issue his Gahdamn! EP this Friday (October 23) via Atlantic. If anything, it seems like he's bummed that everyone else is haranguing him over the alleged beat biting.
As previously reported, the VA rapper has treated listeners to early streams of Gahdamn! tracks "$" and "Caretaker."
The "Family Matters Tour" rolls into Montreal tomorrow night (October 21). You'll find the rest of Chance, D.R.A.M., Towkio and Metro Boomin's tour routing over here.
UPDATE (10/20, 5 p.m.): The Fader has published a previously unused quote from Drake about his song's similarities to "Cha Cha." He said at the time:
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.