Singers are lining up to cover Drake’s latest hit “Hotline Bling,” itself a quasi-cover of D.R.A.M.’s “Cha Cha.” First came Alessia Cara, then Rita Ora, and now Kehlani has released her own version of the emotionally-fraught ballad. She recruits Charlie Puth, who rose to fame with his Wiz Khalifa chart-topper “See You Again.”
Kehlani and Puth trade harmonies over spare keyboard, turning the song from a club-igniting sing-along to an intimate torch song. They both have sky-scraping falsettos, allowing them to unleash new emotional dimensions on the familiar track. This isn’t Kehlani’s first Drake cover—check out her rendition of “Preach.”
Puth will release his debut album Nine Track Mind on Nov. 6 featuring his duet with Meghan Trainor, “Marvin Gaye.”