Rappers have been singing on their songs from the very beginning. You only have to listen to Kevie Kev’s “All Night Long,” to hear melody making its way into some of the earliest rhymes.
However, it has become a popular train of thought in recent years to give acclaim to Drake for not only popularising the melding of rap and R&B, but also pioneering it.
There’s no denying that a byproduct of Drake’s path to the top of the rap world has been the blurring of the lines between hip-hop, pop, and R&B. “Hotline Bling,” like many of Drake’s biggest hits, is agnostic in style and has helped clear a lane for a mainstream in which pop hooks and hip-hop production sit comfortably alongside one another.
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