In "Hotline Bling," Drake sets aside his rap crown to put his vulnerability on display. This is the cardigan-adorned Drake of Degrassi, the bar mitzvah video and round dismissals from his harder contemporaries. In the song, a former love has moved on and Drake's not ready to accept it.

Some listeners objected to the "controlling" and even "sexist" lyrical content of the track-in which a whiny Drake whinges about his ex for having the audacity to move beyond their relationship. He critiques her clothes, her nightlife destinations and the company she keeps ever since he left the city. That's right: after he left her.

But this is where Drake's gonna Drake: He-knows-we-know-he-knows that the charade is flimsy and petulant. These are feelings that exes will feel, whether they're fair or unfair, credible or not. Drake is not trying to sound like "the big guy" or "the good guy," but just "the guy."

His persona in "Hotline Bling" is needy, judgmental and deliberately charmless. This self-awareness is clear in the wimpy, nasally delivery of lines like the instant classic "You used to call me on my cell phone." Drake's not trying to win anyone back: he just wants to make a point. Read more - here.

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