In an appearance on Shirley Ju's podcast Shirley's Temple, producer and model Lil CC revealed that Drake paid $20,000 for the "Money in the Grave" beat, which was her first major placement.
"My first beat was 'Money in the Grave,' I think it was $20,000," she said at the12:30 mark of the podcast, as seen in the clip below. "It was crazy, I was like, 'I fuck with this n***a.' I was like, 'Wow.' Just knowing someone believed in me that much and supported what I did... [It] made me want to go even harder."
As for her reaction when she heard the finished track, which dropped in 2019 and featured Rick Ross, Lil CC said she "went crazy" when she received a video with the final version.
"I was modeling for Missguided in England, and I was in the changing room when I was listening to it," she said. "I was like, 'What the fuck?!' ... I was so happy to shoot the rest of that day I was smiling in every picture, I couldn't stop smiling. I remember there was one other model, there she barely spoke English, but she knew who Drake was and she was the first person that I told. ... I'm, like, barely trying to talk to this girl and she could understand me a little bit."
Not only did it serve as her first beat, but Drake also gave Lil CC a shoutout right at the track's outset. "Lil CC on the beat," Drizzy opens the song, which serves as a celebration of the Toronto Raptors' first NBA championship. She's since gone on to produce for the likes of Roddy Ricch, French Montana, and Rubi Rose among others.
In an interview with Complex in 2019, Lil CC said she learned how to produce in high school but didn't get an opportunity to flex her talents until she met Drake at a post-Grammys party. Two years after they met, they ran into each other again and he asked if she was still making beats. She said that she was focusing on modeling at the time, but Drake insisted she send something. The rest as they say, is history.
