Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da (a play on Boy Wonder) is a Canadian

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and songwriter based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. He is an in-house producer for Drake's OVO Sound label and has produced for a variety of artists and groups, most notably Drake,

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

, Jack Harlow,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

among others. In 2015, Samuels served as the executive producer for Drake's mixtape '' If You're Reading This It's Too Late''.

Early life

Born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, Samuels moved to Canada when he was three and grew up in the North York and

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

districts of Toronto.Jackson, Kevin (2014)
Ja's Wonder Boy
", '' Jamaica Observer'', March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2014Featured Producer: Boi-1da
HipHopCanada. Accessed on July 28, 2008. He was also raised in

Ajax, Ontario Ajax (; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population: 126,666) is a waterfront town in Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is named for , a Royal N ...

, where he attended Pickering High School.Boi-1da
''Exclaim!''. Accessed on November 18, 2010. His father was a keen listener of

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

music and so Samuels was brought up listening to Jamaican music. At the age of eight, his mother bought him a

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

keyboard, and at the age of 15, Arun Sellai had introduced him to

FL Studio FL Studio (known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different ...

(formerly FruityLoops). Without any formal musical training, he started using the FL Studio beat-making program. A few years later, he won three consecutive Battle of the Beatmakers championships; because of this accomplishment, he was given a spot in the Battle of the Beatmakers judging panel. His first production work was at the age of 18, when he worked on two tracks on a

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

('' Room for Improvement'') for Drake.

Career

Samuels began his career producing for Canadian actor Drake's early mixtapes, '' Room for Improvement'' (2006) and '' Comeback Season'' (2007). In 2008, he produced " Set It Off" by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall, which featured American rap duo Clipse and spawned a remix from American rapper Dr. Dre. In an interview with FLOW 93.5, Boi-1da revealed that he was working on beats for Dr. Dre's highly anticipated album, '' Detox'', which was to be released in 2011. However, that album was indefinitely shelved, and none of the released or leaked tracks by Dr. Dre featured Boi-1da's production. He has since stated that he was working with songwriter Sean Garrett and has submitted tracks for Usher. In 2010, Boi-1da produced his first song to peak the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, " Not Afraid" by

. He also produced "hahahaha jk?" from Das Racist's debut album '' Sit Down, Man'' the same year. Boi-1da produced a bulk with Drake's second album, '' Take Care'', which was released November 15, 2011. In March 2013, he produced " 5AM in Toronto" by Drake, which was later released in Drake's 2019 compilation album, " Care Package". Boi-1da worked with rapper

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979) is an American Christian rapper, singer-songwriter, actor, and Record producer, recording producer and Music executive, executive. Since having begun his career in 2004, he has released ten studio alb ...

on his song "Gimme a Second" from his mixtape '' Church Clothes''. He also collaborated with rapper Bizzle on his 2013 album ''The Good Fight''3. He is also a member of Drake's October's Very Own with Noah "40" Shebib and T-Minus. Boi-1da produced "Party Favors" for Tinashe for her album '' Nightride''. The single features Young Thug. In January 2016,

released the

track " Work", featuring Drake. The song peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the second Boi-1da produced track to top the charts. Between 2016 and 2017, Boi-1da continued to produce dancehall tracks, such as Drake's " Controlla",

Tyga Micheal Ray StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson

's "1 of 1", PartyNextDoor's "Only U" and

's " Regret in Your Tears". He co-produced the 2016

single " Real Friends". In September 2017, he produced " No Limit" by G-Eazy featuring A$AP Rocky and Cardi B. In January 2018, he produced " God's Plan" by Drake. In May 2018, he produced " TATI" by

6ix9ine Daniel Hernandez (born May 8, 1996), known professionally as 6ix9ine (stylized in all caps and pronounced "six nine") and also as Tekashi 6ix9ine or Tekashi69, is an American rapper. His music has been marked by an aggressive style of rapping ...

featuring DJ Spinking. In August 2018, he produced " Lucky You" by

featuring Joyner Lucas. In March 2019, he produced " I'm Single" by Jake Paul, and "Maze" and "Make Believe" from

Juice Wrld Jarad Anthony Higgins (December 2, 1998 – December 8, 2019), known professionally as Juice Wrld (pronounced "juice world"; stylized as Juice WRLD), was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He emerged as a leading figure in the emo rap ...

's album, " Death Race for Love". In May 2019, he produced "

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

" by Joyner Lucas featuring

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

. In June 2019, he produced " No Guidance" by

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

featuring Drake. In July 2019, he produced " 1000 Nights" by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

featuring Meek Mill and A Boogie wit da Hoodie. In October 2020, he produced " Tyler Herro" by Jack Harlow. In October 2023, it was announced that he had partnered with alcohol brand Bacardi to release an AI-powered album called ‘The A.I. Powered Album’, which involves training an AI model on a selection of his unreleased beats.

Musical style

Boi-1da is known for his distinctive

sound, having been brought up listening to dancehall before hip-hop. He often incorporates live instrumentation and an air horn sound effect into his beats, as used in

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

, and frequently incorporates samples in his productions. Boi-1da has spoken out against songs which imitate dancehall, criticising fellow Toronto musician

Tory Lanez Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. First discovered by Sean Kingston, he received initial recognition for his mixtape ''Conflicts of My S ...

for doing so in his 2016 single " Luv". He currently uses

12 to make beats, previously, he used Fruity Loops 3.56, 7 XL and 9. Boi-1da has spoken about being influenced by producers such as Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz,

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

, and

The Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

Production discography

Awards and nominations

ASCAP Pop Music Awards

The

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

(ASCAP) hosts a series of awards shows, honouring people in different music categories;

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

is one of its seven categories. In 2011, Drake presented the award to him and 40. They both won the ASCAP Pop Music Award for the Songwriters of the Year for "Over".

Grammy Awards

The

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s are awarded annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

. Boi-1da has one win out of fourteen nominations. , - , rowspan="1",

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, " Best I Ever Had" ( Drake) , rowspan="2", Best Rap Song , , - , rowspan="2",

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, rowspan="1", " Not Afraid" (

) , , - , rowspan="1", '' Recovery'' (Eminem) , Album of the Year , , - ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, " 0 to 100 / The Catch Up" (Drake) , rowspan="2", Best Rap Song , , - , rowspan="2",

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, "

Energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

" (Drake) , , - , '' To Pimp a Butterfly'' (

) , rowspan="2", Album of the Year , , - , rowspan="2",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, '' Views'' (Drake) , , - , " Work" (

) , rowspan="2",

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

, , - , rowspan="6",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, rowspan="3", " God's Plan" (Drake) , , - , Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="3", Best Rap Song , , - , " Lucky You" (Eminem) , , - , " Win" (Jay Rock) , , - , Boi-1da , Producer of the Year, Non-Classical ,

References

External links

*
''HipHopCanada.com'' 2009 Interview
(archived)
''Associated Press'' 2019 Interview

Boi-1da page at Sony Music Canada
{{Authority control 1986 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian musicians Canadian hip-hop record producers Jamaican emigrants to Canada Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Musicians from Toronto OVO Sound artists People from Ajax, Ontario People from North York Musicians from Scarborough, Ontario