15 albums·2006-2023·7 notable
Boi-1da is the stage name of Matthew Jehu Samuels, a Jamaican-born, Toronto-raised producer whose drums have powered Drake's catalog since the So Far Gone era. The two met through the Toronto mixtape scene in the late 2000s, and Boi-1da produced Best I Ever Had, the breakout single that pushed Drake onto Billboard radio in 2009. From there he stayed in the inner circle, contributing to Forever, Over, Headlines, Started From the Bottom, 0 to 100 / The Catch Up, Energy, Know Yourself, 8 Out of 10, Nonstop, Money in the Grave, Laugh Now Cry Later, Wants and Needs, and several cuts on For All the Dogs. His sound favors punchy hi-hat patterns, hard-snare break loops, and ominous tonal samples that translate well to both arena rap and street records. Outside Drake he has produced for Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, and Cardi B, picking up multiple Grammy nominations along the way. Within the OVO orbit he frequently co-produces with Vinylz, Allen Ritter, T-Minus, and 40, and he runs his own production camps that have surfaced contributors to the Drake catalog. Boi-1da remains one of the few producers credited across nearly every Drake album from So Far Gone through the late ICEMAN era.
