Drake is indisputably one of the most influential artists of the past decade. His mixtape So Far Gone and the resulting deal with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Records (not to mention, the million-dollar bidding war for his services) helped change the way artists make music and labels do business for an entire generation after him. However, his influence apparently goes deeper than many of us knew, as revealed by his longtime production partner Noah “40” Shebib, who appeared recently on Kevin Durant‘s new podcast The ETCs.
While talking about Drake’s influence on the music business, 40 shared the details of a conversation he recently had with Travis Scott, who credited 40 and Drake for not only inspiring him musically but also giving him the blueprint to begin recording via their blog, OctobersVeryOwn.net. “Travis Scott told me this story one time when I first met him,” 40 elaborates. “He was like, ’40, man. You did this post on the OVO blog about all you need is this microphone and an interface and a shitty laptop and you can get it done…’ And he was like, ‘Man, you posted that and I went and I showed it to my mom and I told her yo, you gotta buy this mic and we gotta buy this and that. Trust me, this is all I need. I begged her for it and she bought it for me.'”
Years later, Drake would repay the “favor” by appearing with Travis Scott on “Sicko Mode” and helping him secure his first No. 1 placement on the Hot 100. Meanwhile, 40 also told Durant why Drake doesn’t worry about cost when he requests a sample from his producers, the city of Toronto, and why 40 stopped accepting work from other artists.
You can listen to The ETCs (which also features former Uproxx writer Eddie Gonzalez) here.
