The Weeknd contributed to a number of tracks on Drake's fan favorite album Take Care, but Noah "40" Shebib says it's a misconception how much the "Blinding Lights" singer worked on the record. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the OVO hitmaker addressed The Weeknd's role in Take Care, pointing out how his contributions tend to be over exaggerated by some fans.
"There’s, like, 22 songs on Take Care. He contributed on four of them," 40 said. "There are 18 other songs on there where that guy was nowhere to be found, right? So it’s like, ‘Yeah, cool and you contribute to a few records on Take Care. Significant records, sure, but it was a few. It wasn’t a lot.’ It’s a common misconception. I made that whole album. I saw Abel maybe two days. I was in there for like a year."
Take Care runs 18 songs long, or 20 when including the bonus tracks, and has five contributions from The Weeknd. "Shot for Me," "Crew Love" "Cameras / Good Ones Go Interlude," "Practice," and "The Ride" all feature a writing credit from The Weeknd. The comments came up in the interview after 40 defended the length of Drake's albums, which has sparked accusations the track count is inflated to garner more impressive streaming numbers. 40 said such allegations were "offensive," and that ultimately "no one gives a shit about streaming numbers."
In the past, The Weeknd hasn't downplayed his contributions for the record. Speaking with Complex in 2013, he said his breakthrough mixtape House of Balloons was supposed to include more songs until Drake brought him in the studio for Take Care. Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2015, he claimed he "gave up almost half" of his album for Take Care. "I will always be thankful," he added, "If it wasn't for the light he shined on me, who knows where I'd be."
In Drake's 2011 cover story with Complex, Drizzy wasn't shy about how eager he was to embrace The Weeknd's foggy R&B sound. "Anybody with any form of an ear can understand why I had to fully embrace that," he said.
