Drake described the process of creating Hotline Bling as taking a familiar rhythm and putting his own twist on it.
"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," he told The Fader.
"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."
Hotline Bling samples Why Can't We Live Together by Timmy Thomas which also draws resemblance to Cha Cha.
Accoring to BMI Thomas is credited as a songwriter on Hotline Bling, but he is not credited on Cha Cha.
Four months ago, Drake came under fire from another fellow rapper Meek Mill who accused him of not writing his own songs in a Tweet.
Drake responded in verse with a diss song entitled Charged Up.
The hit No. 1 on Billboard's Trending 140 chart, which looks at social media impact in the United States.
"Wow, I'm honored that you think this is staged," he rapped over a minimalist beat.
"I seen it all coming... 'cause it ain't like I need the money I make off a feature'," Drake said, presumably explaining why he did not promote Mill's album.
- nzherald.co.nz additional reporting by The Fader