Drake is giving fans a brief look behind the scenes of “Nokia,” a highlight off his and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, currently the No. 1 album in the country.
In a clip shared to his @plottttwistttttt Finsta on Sunday, the beginnings of what would become the Elkan-produced track are shown. Text displayed on the video reveals that the footage was captured in Freetown, Sierra Leone in January of this year. As revealed in the PND and Drake album’s official credits, the duo’s sessions, meanwhile, were recorded entirely at Sanctuary Studios in the Bahamas.
Elkan himself previously shared the same clip, noting that the track was indeed “made in Freetown, Sierra Leone.”
On $$$4U release day, Elkan revealed that the “Nokia” beat was made “in the midst of a mental breakdown,” adding that the song’s central idea stems from people calling to ask if he “was okay” and inviting him out during this difficult period in his life.
“This record means a lot to me,” he said.
Other producers assembled for $$$4U include DJ LEWIS, Room33, Ali Roots, GORDO, Kid Masterpiece, and more. As for features, PND and Drake kept such appearances to a minimum on the project: Pin pops up for “Pimmie’s Dilemma,” Chino Pacas features on “Meet Your Padre,” and Yebba is recruited fro “Die Trying.” Elkan, meanwhile, can also be heard on “Nokia.”
With $$$4U's No. 1 debut, Drake tied both Taylor Swift and Jay-Z for the most No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart as a solo artist. The all-time chart record is still held by The Beatles, whose run of 19 No. 1 albums on the chart has still not been bested by either another group or a solo artist.
The album’s release coincides nicely with Drake’s ongoing Anita Max Win Tour, which will soon resume with another show at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane before returning to the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and wrapping with two dates at Auckland, New Zealand’s Spark Arena. Coverage from the tour has largely centered on the plethora of handwritten signs from fans visible in any given photo or social media clip from the shows, many of them focused on requests for money for matters both serious (a parent's mortgage, for example) and less so (cash to alleviate the pain of infidelity).
