40 (producer)

Noah James Shebib (born March 31, 1983), known professionally as 40, is a Canadian record producer and former actor from Toronto, Ontario. Since 2005 he has collaborated frequently with Drake, another Toronto-based former actor. Shebib's style of production, which is often down-tempo and ambient, has become heavily associated with Drake's music. Shebib and Drake are also two of the three co-founders of the OVO Sound label. Shebib has also produced for artists including Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, Action Bronson, and Jamie Foxx.

Early life

Noah Shebib is of Lebanese-Irish heritage.^[1] His mother is Canadian actress Tedde Moore, who is best known for appearing in the 1983 film A Christmas Story; she was pregnant with him during the production of that film.^[2] His father is Canadian director Donald Shebib.

Acting career

Shebib began as a child actor, playing roles in television shows and films. His first role was in the 1996 “Go Eat Worms” episode of the Goosebumps television series. He also played a consistent role on the Gemini Award-winning television series, Wind at My Back. His best-known role came in his teen years, when he was featured as one of the lead males in the critically acclaimed The Virgin Suicides. He also had smaller roles in The Last Don and Perfect Pie; the latter was his last movie before he retired from acting.^[3][4]

Music career

Early in Noah's career before he started crafting beats, he DJ'd under the name DJ Decibel and performed alongside MC Elite (Everett MacLean). Shebib eventually made the shift from DJ to music producer, working with local Toronto artists like Empire, Knamelis, Christopher Morales, and Saukrates. He earned the nickname “40 Days & 40 Nights” (which was later reduced to “40”) early on in his career, as he would work in the studio throughout the night, with no sleep.^[5] He began working with then Degrassi star Aubrey Graham (Drake) in 2005. He was shown producing with Drake on Degrassi Unscripted. When Shebib first started working with Drake, he was originally just a recording and mixing engineer, providing no songwriting or production input at all.^[6] However, after the third day of work, Shebib decided to build an exclusive relationship with Drake, proclaiming that they were “going to take over the world together." ^[5] Shebib's big break came in 2009, when he executive produced Drake's mixtape So Far Gone with Toronto-based producer, Boi-1da. He recorded and mixed every song off the mixtape, and also produced a few notable tracks such as "The Calm", "Houstatlantavegas", "Bria's Interlude" and "Successful", all of which ended up defining Drake's sound going forward.^[7] He also worked on Drake’s debut album Thank Me Later, and sophomore album Take Care.^[8] On the latter, Shebib co produced almost every song, alongside his usual duties of recording and mixing the entire album.^[9] Shebib also produced the song "I'm Single" from Lil Wayne's "No Ceilings" mixtape, "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" for Alicia Keys and "Demonstrate" for JoJo. Took his talents to Academy of Art University. Shebib, along with Drake and Oliver El-Khatib, founded the OVO record label in 2012. Music produced under the imprint is uploaded to the label's blog site for streaming, before the album is officially released.^[10] One example is the single "Marvins Room", which was first posted to the blog site five days after its conception, before it was even slated to be a single off the album.^[6] Recently Shebib has helped produce Drake's newer material, co producing the lead single "Started from the Bottom", among other records.^[11] Shebib also worked on Drake's third album, Nothing Was the Same^[12][13] and his 2015 surprise release mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late.^[14]

Production style

Shebib is instrumental in creating Drake's music, and together their "atmospheric, brooding sound has revitalised hip-hop."^[6] Shebib's production is described as “sparse, ambient, slow-jam-like tracks dominated by brooding synths, minimalist piano or guitar parts, stripped-down, often muffled drums, and cinematic atmospheric treatments."^[6] An example is the song "Marvins Room", where Shebib mixed the record so that it is "very dark and quiet and muddy and with the vocals cutting through like a razor" and is notorious for being heavy on the low end.^[6]

Personal life

In 2005, at the age of 22, Shebib was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.^[5][2] His personal story is featured on the National Multiple Sclerosis Society website, where he outlines his experiences with the disease, hoping that by creating awareness and “improving connections and knowledge about MS, we can end the disease." His mother was also diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Discography

Singles produced

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

References