Even if you don’t know his name, you know Nineteen85’s sound.
The Grammy-winning Toronto producer has helmed some of Drake’s biggest and most out-of-the-box hits, from the disco-pop haze of “Hold On, We’re Going Home” to the multicultural flex of “One Dance.” He’s also one half of OVO Sound R&B duo Dvsn, responsible for the soul-wrenching beats behind their many jams. He’s got production credits on Mariah Carey, Future and Travis Scott tracks too.
READ MORE: Drake Is Releasing A Poetry Book
Come to think of it, by now, you really should know this guy’s name. So Nineteen85 is doing his part to make sure you don’t forget it. He says he’ll soon start releasing songs under his own moniker, a la DJ Khaled or Murda Beatz, made with several artists “all over the board.” Consider it a personal branding exercise.
“I’ve started to feel like people forgot that I was doing things outside of Dvsn,” Nineteen85 tells ET Canada. “So my focus this year is to remind them that I do a bit of everything.”
And he really means everything. The beatsmith recently teamed up with Fancy Feast to create a collection of instrumentals made with samples of cat sounds. Dubbed the “Power of Purr” playlist, the laidback tracks, ranging from breezy bossa nova to dusty boom bap, are all layered with a wide array of purrs, and sound way better than they probably should. The guy really is that good.
We chatted with Nineteen 85 about his upcoming music, cats, what it’s like working with Drake, and the rapper’s dog. [Just days before our interview, Drizzy announced his forthcoming album, For All The Dogs. Look at that!]
How’s it going 85?
I’m good. I’m good. I’m in Atlanta doing some work out here for the week. There’s a new artist from Toronto that lives in Atlanta, and the label she signed to is in Atlanta, so I’m helping her with her new album. Her name’s Sadboi.
Oh I can totally relate, as a fellow sadboi. What kind of music is she?
She’s like, I guess you could say darker, alternative R&B. Like The Weekend, Lana Del Rey, in that kind of world.
I like that. Darker R&B. That’s kinda Toronto’s thing. Melancholic.
Sad vibes. [Laughs.]
So with Dvsn putting out Working On My Karma last year, are you now focusing more on producing for other artists?
Yeah, over the last maybe two or three years, I stepped back from producing a bunch of other artists as much as I used to. I did, but just not that much. And then going into this Dvsn tour, which started January, what I did differently than the other tours is I would basically go to all the major cities and then I would stay for maybe like four or five days and work with artists in each city. So I did that in London, I did that in Paris, New York and L.A. So I’ve been going nonstop since then.
READ MORE: Lil Wayne Reveals Drake Is ‘A Very Clumsy Guy’ And Jokes ‘He Hurts Himself By Just Performing’
Which other artists have you been working with?
I have a few records with Joey Bada$$. I have something with Lil Tjay. I have something with Kid LaRoi. I’ve been with so many people that I don’t even remember who I’ve been working with. An artist from the UK, Äyanna, I’m doing her album. Man, it’s been a blur. I’ve been going so hard lately, we’re just all over the board, all different styles, genres, different cities. I’ve been working this year.
Is this part of you wanting to build out your personal brand more?
Yeah, for sure. I’ve started to feel like people forgot that I was doing things outside of Dvsn. So my focus this year is to remind them that I do a bit of everything.
So I do have a lot of singles coming out with a lot of artists and then I’m also figuring out how I want to start releasing my own music; not necessarily to say that my voice will be on the records, so I won’t be singing for anybody anytime soon. But I do have some songs with artists that I’ve worked with in the past that I will start releasing as an artist.
Very cool. I mean you’re a Grammy winner and you’ve produced some of the biggest tracks in the world. Seems like the next logical step is for a producer to release music under their own name, right?
And I think producers dictate so much of the sound of today. Producers are in many ways the sound of everything. So a lot of it’s in our hands. We have the power.
Absolutely. Do you have a cat, though?
I’ve never owned a cat. I don’t have a problem with cats. I’ve never actually just been a cat owner, though.
Interesting. I personally am a huge cat guy, so my cat and I really appreciated this “Power of Purr” playlist you made. Can you walk me through how you created it?
So they approached me saying they wanted me to make a playlist, a purr playlist. And I was like, “Is this for the cats to listen to or for the cat owners to listen to?” And they’re kinda like, “Both.” I was like, “Hmm. I’m down.” [Laughs.] It sounds like something I’ve never done, so I’ll try it. And then they gave me the freedom to go whatever direction. They said the only guideline is you have to figure out how to take the cat purrs and the cat nuances and put them into the music.
And then as I started to do it, I was thinking, what kind of music makes sense in a cat setting? Because if I put something upbeat, I don’t know how a cat’s going to react to it. I don’t know if people would appreciate me making their cats go crazy. So I said, let me try to get something that’s not too upbeat but maybe not too slow. I started finding ideas that were blends of hip-hop or jazz or like downtempo vibes. It started coming together pretty nicely.
How did you sample the cat sounds?
So some of them were actually cats of people on the team, friends and family of the people involved. And then for some of the other cats, I actually just went online and started doing cat research to see what I could find. And a bunch, surprisingly, a bunch of things popped up. There’s a whole cat community out there I didn’t know.
Yeah man, we’re out here! We are legion. I think Drake’s a cat guy, right? Have you met his cat?
No. I know of Drake’s dog for sure. I don’t know about his cat. But I’ve met his dog a few times.
What’s his dog like?
His dog is super chill. Yeah, I remember he got the dog when we were working on Views. And that was in L.A.. It was such a friendly, chill dog. And then it’s crazy cause I didn’t think this dog was gonna get that big but his dog is huge now!
What kind of dog is it?
I don’t know the correct term but it almost looks like a husky. Like a white husky. I think the dog is on some of the artwork for Views. He’s chilling with him in the snow.
That’s right! I remember that. Well, what can you tell me about working with Drake? What’s it like from a producer standpoint?
He’s probably the easiest and the hardest to work with because he’s such a musical prodigy that he is so specific about what he wants. So I can send him a hundred things and he’ll be like, “Nah, that’s still not it”. But then if I send him that last thing, the 103rd idea that I sent him, he’ll be like, “Ah, this is perfect!” And then once he gets it, it’s so easy because it just flows; it normally doesn’t take that many different times to get it right.
So it’s really about patience with him because when he gets it, it’s phenomenal. But up until then, you have to be okay with another version, another try, another listen, switching some ideas, trying different drums, trying different things. And I think of all the artists I’ve worked with, he’s the closest to being a producer. So even though he doesn’t actually call himself a producer, a lot of what he’s doing is, like, real production. He could absolutely produce an album for someone.
Wow! So he has a very specific ear. He knows exactly what he wants to hear.
For sure. That’s why he keeps winning. It’s like there’s no fluke in what he’s doing. He knows, he’s very intentional. It’s not like he just keeps getting these hits by chance. He’s very good at what he does.
Obviously, he’s great. He’s been gravitating to you for a reason. Like, he loves your production style. And the songs that you’ve produced for him are all some of his most unique sounding records. “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” “Hotline Bling.” Those are very left-field songs. So do you have a certain production ethos?
I think somewhere along the way I started trying to take things that wouldn’t normally be together, like different ingredients that wouldn’t normally be used in the same food, and figure out ways to make them work. Because when it works, it’s amazing. If it doesn’t work people might not get it, but there’s something about taking sounds or styles that wouldn’t normally work together and figuring out how to mesh them, because when it goes, you end up connecting so many different listeners at once.
You know, you take a song like “One Dance” where you have a sample from a UK song mixed with reggaeton drums with an Afrobeat artist featuring on it. Like you have so many different worlds, and then Drake himself brings a whole new perspective to a lot of these different listeners anyways. So it’s like you have so many different ways that you can attract people to a song and then once you’re there, everybody’s kind of just like, oh wow, I didn’t expect myself to like this, but I love it.
Can you give us any insight into the direction he’s going in on his next project?
No, because he’s full of surprises. [Laughs.]
Well, how about the direction you’re going in on your upcoming music? Any influences that you’ve been gravitating towards lately?
I think my style has always been all over the place, so I don’t know. Is it cliché for me to say it sounds worldly? I have this way of sort of connecting to multiple different places at once. So I do have some Afrobeat stuff. Actually, I’ve been getting back into the rap world a lot more. So that’s what I’m actually most excited about.
