The Production of ‘Scorpion’

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Of course it’s no surpise that two of Drake’s longtime producers and close friends Noah “40” Shebib and Olivier El-Khatib had their fingerprints all over this album. His previous album had huge guest features like Kanye, Travis Scott, 2 Chainz, Young Thug, and Quavo. He is also known for giving exposure to small artists like Giggs and Jorja Smith, who have both blown up since the release. But Scorpion is completely different.

He only actually has four credited features. Jay-Z on “Talk Up”, “Michael Jackson” on “Don’t Matter To Me”— Yes, you read that right, and “After Dark” has both Ty Dolla Sign and Static Major.

Let’s not forget to mention that two of the four featured artists are dead, Static Major and of course MJ. The Michael Jackson feature on “Don’t Matter to Me” appears to be previously unreleased music and Paul Anka who worked with Michael Jackson in the early 80’s is listed as the co-writer.

When he sampled Lauryn Hill on the single “Nice For What” – fans went crazy and the sampling continues throughout the album. We hear part of Nicki Minaj’s song “Boss Ass Bitch” on “That’s How You Feel.” The chorus to Mariah Carey’s “Emotions” is heard “Emotionless”, Aaliyah’s “More Than A Woman” is sampled on “Is There More” and Future appears on “Blue Tint”.

PARTYNEXTDOOR, Murda Beatz, Tay Keith, Boi-1da, No I.D., and DJ Premier are other producers credited on the album.