“Most people are surprised this is my studio,” jokes hip-hop producer Matthew “Boi-1da” Samuels, looking around at an empty basement equipped with a laptop, a mini fridge and an X-Box. A laptop is where Drake’s history making single “Best I Ever Had” was created? To say the least, what 1da lacks in a studio ensemble, he makes up for in talent and accessibility.

The Ajax, ON native started producing just a few years ago “out of boredom,” and has since turned his hobby to a career. At first, he got his beats into the hands of anyone he could in the Toronto scene, but it was his work with Kardinal Offishall and then Drake on “Best I Ever Had” that put him all over the charts, literally. “I’ve known Drake for years and we work really well together,” 1da says of how the single came to be. The two put blood, sweat and tears into the music and began to build a strong buzz. Around this time, Drake became Lil Wayne’s wonder protégé and was doing verses on Lil Wayne tracks; by the time Drake was set to release his free mixtape So Far Gone online in late 2008, there were already rumours of multi-million dollar record deal offers. The free download did so well that it was formally released on CD, which have sold over 300,000 copies to date. The lead single from So Far Gone was the Boi-1da produced “Best I Ever Had,” which topped the Billboard singles chart.

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