Drake and producer Elkan recently gave an insight into the creation of one of Drizzy's PARTYNEXTDOOR collab album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U's biggest hits, "NOKIA." The solo Aubrey cut landed at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, surpassed by the solo cut "GIMME A HUG" at number six. The Toronto superstar reposted a clip from the producer on his "plot twist" burner Instagram account that shows Elkan making the "NOKIA" beat on January 8 of this year in a Sierra Leone studio. "I don’t even know where to start," the U.K.-based beat-maker shared on IG when the project dropped.
"This record means a lot to me," Elkan wrote of the Drake track "NOKIA," previewing its Billboard success. "In the mist of a mental breakdown I channeled all the pain, trauma and joy into music not letting a f***ed up mental state stop me from expressing myself. Nokia came from people I love ringing my line asking if I was okay inviting me out to karaoke, clubbing, going to crazy food spots and just enjoying the finer things in life! When Drake puts pen to pad onna elkan ting you know it’s a speeeecial one!"
Drake First Week Sales
For those unaware, Drake's first week sales for the PARTYNEXTDOOR collab $ome $exy $ongs 4 U showed he's still a commercial giant. It sold 246K album-equivalent units in its first week, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and landed two solo cuts from The Boy on the Hot 100's top 10. This increases his number of top 10 hits on the chart to 80, the most in history for any artist.
Meanwhile, Drake is currently on his "Anita Max Win" tour throughout Australia and New Zealand, and we're sure that fans hope they will be among the first to hear "NOKIA" live. We have to give massive flowers to Elkan for both this impressive beat and for showing us the incredible process behind making it. Props to the OVO boss for doing a great job on the cut, too. Hopefully, when the summertime rolls around, it'll still be in rotation.
