Boi-1da was a shy kid who shunned the spotlight. Now he's one of hip-hop's biggest producers

For Matthew Samuels — better known as the Grammy-winning Canadian producer Boi-1da — making beats behind the scenes has always been a more enticing prospect than trying to make it as a rapper. In high school, he wasn't particularly outgoing and he definitely didn't want to be in the spotlight, which was something he had to find out the hard way.

"All my friends loved to rap and we tried to make a rap group, and unfortunately, I tried to rap myself," he tells Q's Tom Power with a laugh. "I was terrible. Yeah, I was bad. Trash. Trust me, you don't want to hear me, man."

Luckily, Boi-1da had a real talent for producing and a few good friends who encouraged him to step outside of his comfort zone. At 17, he competed in Battle of The Beat Makers, a competition based in Toronto where producers face off onstage. Though he was up against much more seasoned producers, he won the competition three years in a row.

"It was nerve-racking for me because I'd never done anything where I had to be on a stage and all eyes were on me," he says. "But my friends, who are really good friends, forced me to be in it, which was good for me because they kind of pushed me out there…. I started gaining confidence."

Now, Boi-1da is known as a bonafide hitmaker who crafts chart-topping beats for the likes of Drake, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Eminem and more. Later this month, he'll be honoured with the International Achievement Award at the Junos.

As one of the in-house producers on Drake's OVO label, he and the Toronto rapper go way back. Boi-1da says he first met Drake when he was still primarily known as "the kid from Degrassi." The two hit it off immediately.

"The very first day we met, we ended up doing our very first song together called Do What You Do, and it was a local smash," Boi-1da says. "[It was] very exciting because I'd never had a song on the radio before, and that song was probably in high rotation on Canadian radio."

Boi-1da went on to produce Drake's first top-10 single, Best I Ever Had, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. As one of Drake's most frequent collaborators, he's worked with the rapper on more than 50 songs, including Controlla and God's Plan (for which he won a Grammy). Boi-1da also executive produced Drake's widely acclaimed 2015 mixtape, If You're Reading This, It's Too Late.

He credits Drake not only for opening the door for him, but also for other Canadian hip-hop artists and producers. The exposure has also helped him get over his shyness.

"It was overwhelming to get all that attention," Boi-1da says. "[But if] you put a shy kid in that situation enough times, they end up adapting to it, which I ended up adapting to being around people, speaking to people and being out…. You overcome it after a while."

The full interview with Boi-1da is available on our YouTube channel and on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Boi-1da produced by Vanessa Nigro.