Drake is back with another earworm, and we have the producer Elkan to thank for it. This week, Drizzy’s latest hit “Nokia” sneaks back into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 — reaching a new peak of No. 7 — as fans are waiting with baited breath for the arrival of the song’s IMAX music video, dropping later today (March 31). Appearing on Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR‘s joint album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, “Nokia” emerged as the leader of the pack amongst three other chart-topping songs off the project: “Die Trying,” “Gimme a Hug” and “Somebody Loves Me.”
While “Nokia” is littered amongst 20-other lusty heartbroken R&B slowburns, the song commands listeners to dry their tears and hit the dance floor. Drake’s “Who’s calling my phone?” catchphrase is already breaking the internet, and will undoubtedly crash every karaoke bar this summer, as soundtracked by Elkan’s bouncy beat. The producer, who’s from Sierra Leone and is based out of the United Kingdom, graces Drake with a disorienting backdrop, which disintegrates from a sweaty and pummeling Atlanta bass beat into a slithering synth-driven funk groove.
So who is Elkan, and how long has he been honing this unique style? Here’s everything Billboard knows about the buzzing producer behind The Boy’s latest hit.
When Did Elkan Start Producing?
The 21-year-old producer began his production journey back when he was between the ages of eight and ten. His uncle, an artist based out of Sierra Leone at the time, introduced him to FL Studio. Elkan admitted in an interview with wavs.com that he wasn’t interested in the software at first, but eventually began tinkering around in FL’s demo version. He then fully locked in with producing after taking a class led by a professional producer named Eli Brown.
“I saw Eli Brown post a sample on Twitter and it blew me away,” he said in an interview with the Spill Your Sauce podcast in 2023. “I reached out to him about his class and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to learn from him. It completely changed my perspective on what could be achieved with samples.”
From there, Elkan became obsessed with making samples, with his first official release being a sample from Tory Lanez’ “Joke’s on Me” when he was 17. After getting some praise online, Elkan decided to pursue production full time.
How Did Elkan Break Out?
His claim to fame became meshing nursery rhymes within his samples, and he got his official start producing as part of a well-established group called the Rucker Collective. One of Elkan’s samples from 2020, titled “Dead or Alive,” caught the attention of Lil Baby, who was seen on TikTok rapping over the beat in the studio. The sample eventually made its way to Metro Boomin, who added drums and tinkered with it a bit more to make his Heroes & Villains cut “Metro Spider” with Young Thug in 2022.
The rest was history, as Elkan continued to produce for well-known rappers including Russ, Nemzzz and Lecrae, the latter collaboration of which led to his first Grammy win in 2024, for his work on Church Clothes 4.
What Inspired “Nokia?”
While working on the beat for “Nokia,” Elkan said on Instagram in February the instrumental was just inspired by real-life events.
“NOKIA” came from people I love ringing my line asking if I was okay inviting me out to karaoke, clubbing, going to crazy food spots and just enjoying the finer things in life!” he wrote on IG. Elkan added that knew the result would be a smash hit.
“When Drake puts pen to pad onna elken ting you know it’s a special one!” he concluded.
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