#Drake Producer Noah “40” Shebib Explains R. Kelly Credit on Certified Lover Boy

On Friday (September 3), Drake finally released his latest studio album Certified Lover Boy. In addition to previously teased contributors such as JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, and many others, the credits for CLB listed R. Kelly as a co-lyricist. The credit appears on a song called “TSU.” Now, longtime Drake collaborator Noah “40” Shebib—who worked as one of several producers on CLB—has made a statement regarding the R. Kelly credit. “I’m not here to defend drakes 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,” Shebib wrote in an Instagram comment earlier today (September 5). Find his comment in the post below.

Shebib’s comment was made in response to an Instagram post that shared a photo of an Independent headline that reads: “Certified Lover Boy: Drake album credits R. Kelly as co-lyricist.” “It’s kinda wild cause I was just reading ‘Baby Girl’ by Kathy Iandoli and the recounts of some of that stuff is horrific and disgusting,” Shebib wrote, referring to the recently published biography of Aaliyah. “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.”

Elsewhere in his statement, Shebib mentions that at the beginning of “TSU” there is a sample of OG Ron C talking. “Behind that faintly which you can’t even hear is an r Kelly song playing in the background,” he writes. “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.”