"He wanted to recreate ‘Hotline Bling’ so bad": Internet divided as Drake releases Nokia music video shot in IMAX

Rapper Drake has released his much-awaited music video for his hit track, Nokia, which was a part of his latest album, $$$4U, with PartyNextDoor. The music video was shot entirely in IMAX and is in black-and-white color tone.

On March 31, the Canadian rapper shared the music video which sees him host a number of parties to go with the vibe of the track. The music video is directed by Theo Skudra and features a cameo by NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is a frontrunner to be the 2025 NBA MVP.

The video also included alleged references to the original Nokia phone company's symbols, including a handshake that was once their logo and the popular Snake Xenzia game, a part of their cell phones.

Fans took to X to react to Drake's Nokia music video. While some were left impressed by it, others found alleged similarities with his rival, Kendrick Lamar. One X user claimed he wanted to recreate his own 2016 track, Hotline Bling, and wrote:

"He wanted to recreate ‘Hotline Bling’ so bad."

"Will Smith new freestyle goes harder than this. Do better," a fan opined.

"The Kenny influence on this is crazyyyyyyy," another user jibed.

"We’re just going to pretend he’s not COPYING Kendrick’s whole aesthetic? Even with the subtle movement 😂😂😂😂😂 wtf???," another person observed.

Some fans were impressed by the music video and praised it online:

"This video is so hard I wonder whoever talked down on drake," a fan chimed in.

"Drizzy being incapable of missing needs to be studied," another netizen remarked.

"Why people hating? The visuals are good," a person commented.

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DJ Akademiks claims Drake was allegedly trolling Kendrick Lamar in his Nokia music video

On March 31, DJ Akademiks alleged on his live stream that Drake put in subliminal signs that were meant to be digs at his rival Kendrick Lamar in his Nokia music video.

For the uninformed, Drizzy has been involved in a feud with Lamar since March last year. Both rappers name-dropped and took digs at each other through multiple diss tracks until May 2024. However, their actions since then have been highly publicized, with alleged digs continuing at each other.

According to DJ Akademiks, a well-known loyalist of Drizzy, the rapper was surrounded by singers in the Nokia video and does a dance quite similar to Kendrick Lamar in his Not Like Us music video. K Dot notably accused Drake of alleged p*dophilia in the track, which went on to become one of his biggest hits to date.

Akademiks further alleged that there is an inclusion of an owl in the Nokia video, which is a symbol of Drizzy's record label, OVO. However, the owl is free as compared to the inclusion of a caged owl in the Not Like Us music video, where Lamar was also seen hitting and destroying a replica of the OVO logo bird.

Speaking on his live stream, DJ Akademiks said that neither Drizzy nor Lamar can get over their feud with each other. He mentioned:

"Is he trolling Kendrick yo, these two are going to be tied together like Siamese twins bro, both of them, like, Dot can't get over it, but Drake kind of can't get over it, neither. Now you might say both of them at this point, just trolling each other. They can't get over each other. It's not one-sided."

Akademiks continued to share his theories with streamers, asserting that the Canadian rapper, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's cameo, references Kendrick Lamar's inclusion of DeMar DeRozan in his Not Like Us video.

Further, the hip-hop streamer discussed whether Drake emulated K Dot's dance from his Squabble Up music video as well, a track which was a part of his latest album, GNX, that was released in November 2024. While he was not sure, he asked his X followers to point it out for him, but alleged that one of Drizzy's dances in the video emulated one of Kendrick's from one of his videos.

Akademiks finally shared his thoughts on the Nokia music video and said:

"I mean, looks like a cool video. Yeah, this is the Drake zone. That's gonna stick, man. It's gonna be around for a while, so hopefully we see a lot more of it. But, um, yeah, no, I think it's a decent video. I don't like the black and white, though, but supposedly this is a dance challenge. I guess I like the song, man. I think the song should be a number-one song, but it's different."

Nokia, written by Drake and produced by Elkan and debuted at number 17 on the Global Billboard 200. It opened at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of the most acclaimed tracks from the Canadian rapper's last album, $$$4U.