Drake’s longtime collaborator Noah “40” Shebib has issued a statement on the controversial credit for R Kelly on the Canadian artist’s new album, Certified Lover Boy.
Shebib, who has several production credits on the record, posted an Instagram comment amid a backlash surrounding Kelly’s credit.
The disgraced R&B singer, who is currently on trial in New York for charges including the sexual exploitation of children, is credited on the song “TSU”.
After Drake’s album was released, many fans expressed disgust at Kelly’s name appearing on the list of credits.
Shebib responded to an Instagram post that shared a screenshot of The Independent’s report with a lengthy comment where he attempted to “clear up” why Kelly’s name had been included.
“On a song called ‘TSU’ at the beginning is a sample of OG Ron C talking,” he said, referring to the US DJ and producer. “Behind that faintly, which you can’t even hear, is an R Kelly song playing in the background. It has no significance, no lyrics are present, R Kelly’s voice isn’t even present, but if we wanted to use Ron C talking we were forced to license it.”
Shebib said the decision “doesn’t sit well with me, let me just say that”.
“And I’m not here to defend Drake’s lyrics, but I thought I would clear up that there is no actual R Kelly present and it’s a bit misleading to call him a co-lyricist,” he said.
He said he had just been reading the biography Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah by Kathy Iandoli.
“Then I saw this post and just had to say something because to think we would stand beside that guy or write with him is just incredibly disgusting,” he said.
Drake’s representative did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment regarding the Kelly credit.
You can read a review of Certified Lover Boy here.
