You don’t need the fanciest equipment to make it happen.
Noah ’40’ Shebib is a veteran on the production scene at this point in his career. His recent explanation on how some of his music comes to be serves as further evidence of that statement.
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Drake’s 2021 release Certified Lover Boy has a varied production palate, but most of the weight is placed on the shoulders of longtime collaborator Noah ’40’ Shebib. 40 has been a prominent piece in the vast majority of Drake’s career, standing as the foundation allowing Drake to reach heights seen in his Views album cover. He’s produced 30+ tracks for the Canadian megastar, including fan favorites such as “Over My Dead Body,” “Redemption,” “Weston Road Flows,” “Practice,” “Girls Love Beyonce,” and a wide selection of others. Contrary to what many may believe, these feats weren’t always accomplished with state of the art studio gear.
“I’m always recording stuff on an iPhone because it’s easier these days and the iPhone sounds great. So like, if I have to record just like an instrument I might use an iPhone for instance” said 40 in a recent sit down with FC The Truth. He referenced inspirations of the past that made due with the tools available to them: “The Beatles didn’t have much to work with back then. Marvin Gaye was lying down on a couch with an SM-57 so it’s like alright, so grab an SM-57 for $100 and lie on the couch in the living room and track a record and make it great.”
With the utterly insane capabilities of current gen iPhones, they are lightyears ahead of some sound equipment from as recent as 15 years ago. As artists (such as Steve Lacy) have shown, iPhones can be used to create excellent music and should be incorporated more moving forward.
