“Drake is one of the pickiest guys when it comes to beats and tracks,” producer T-Minus told Rolling Stone in 2018. His Drake production credits include "The Motto," "HYFR," "Make Me Proud" and “March 14," among others. He's come a long way from spitting over the standard beats of the 2000s featured on his 2006 debut mixtape Room For Improvement, to thriving on the atmospheric soundscapes of today. The multiplatinum-selling, Grammy Award-winning artist can do anything from delivering vehement rhymes over lo-fi underwater sounds, piercing drums, booming bounce, 1990's R&B samples, New York boom-bap, slower Houston energy, soul vibes, rattling hi hats, trap grooves and more. Boi-1da, Cubeatz, OZ, Frank Dukes, T-Minus, Southside, Vinylz, WondaGurl, Just Blaze, Cardo, Metro Boomin, Tay Keith, Pi'erre Bourne, Murda Beatz, Timbaland, Nineteen85 and more. His go-to producer is Noah "40" Shebib, who has been with Drake since the 2009 So Far Gone days, but he's worked with everyone from lauded hip-hop production veterans to viral wunderkinds.
While there's not one specific formula for a Drake beat in 2021, since he glides over a variety of sounds, if you know, you know. Before the 34-year-old Toronto rapper even spits a lyric on any of his tracks, it's fairly easy to pinpoint production reserved for him these days.