A new documentary following Noah “40” Shebib gives an inside look at the rise of Drake, OVO, and Toronto’s hip-hop scene.
The short, 14-minute long doc called Toronto Rising shows exclusive footage from 40’s life. The producer and sound engineer also talks about his Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis and Drake’s early work, among other things that contributed to the rise of the “Toronto sound.”
“I’ve always considered myself a visitor in hip-hop,” 40 says in the doc. “When I was 21, I got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I learned a lesson in the hospital, which was that as long as I had at least one finger that still worked, no matter what the world took from me, I could play the keyboard and I could make music. All the things in my life just kind of pointed me in one direction. I’m here to play my part and to leave my impact, but from my perspective, I was a guest and I was really just looking to be accepted.”
Another notable moment in the doc is an anecdote about 40 and Drake nearly losing all the files for Take Care. Engineer Les Bateman, who custom built 40 a high-end laptop, recounts the moment: “While they were recording the project… I think it was Take Care, they upgraded some hardware,” he says. “It ended up corrupting all the files on the computer so they phoned me in the middle of the night and I retrieved all the material on their hard drives for them.”
40 has been Drake’s right-hand man for years, collaborating both in and outside of the music world. They co-own cannabis brand Bullrider, which is lauded by the rest of OVO for having a “third-eye” effect.
Watch Toronto Rising in its entirety on YouTube above.
