How Gordo Built the Sound of Drake's 'MAID OF HONOUR'

The artist formerly known as Carnage breaks down his role in Drake’s three-album drop.

Gordo found out his production is all over MAID OF HONOUR the same time the rest of us did. He didn’t know that all the stuff he was building with Drake since their last collaborations would be included on one of the three albums Drake dropped on May 15 along with the highly anticipated ICEMAN. He, too, was surprised when not one, but nine tracks on the aforementioned LP featured his production work.

Gordo — who was born Diamanté Anthony Blackmon and used to produce under the name Carnage — has been working with Drizzy since the 6 God first began incorporating house, techno, and electronic Latin sounds into his work. He handled six beats on Honestly, Nevermind, two on For All the Dogs (including the top 40 hit “Rich Baby Daddy”), and one on $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. Gordo and his frequent collaborators, like ZECCA and Kid Masterpiece, are the main sonic architects behind MAID OF HONOUR, which is quickly becoming the most celebrated of this new batch of Drake releases. Additionally, the producer landed a beat on HABIBTI, another moment he found out about alongside the rest of us.

We caught up with Gordo on the heels of this monumental moment to chat about being a voice for Latin American producers, Drake’s work ethic, and the difficulty of keeping these collaborations a secret.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Boardroom: New music from you and Drake is out now. How are you feeling?

Gordo: Man, I’ve been feeling great. It’s been one of the best times in my life. I’m so happy.

When did you find out that the music you were working on was going to be part of a three-album drop?

I found out when everyone else found out.

Did you know that the music you were working on was going to make it onto an album?

I mean, we’ve been working on this project for a long time. Whenever he needs something, I just work on it.

You’ve been around for a while but have really gained a big audience over the past two years. What do you think has led to that leap?

Working with the greatest artists of all time [laughs]. That definitely gives me notoriety. It helps the plot. I don’t really work with anyone else. I actually don’t really think about anything else unless I’m working on my own records, but I’m just too busy doing the DJ stuff and the producing.

How did Drake get turned onto your music in the first place?

Definitely from the Carnage days — back, back, back, back in the day. I was definitely at one point 10 times bigger than Drake, so he obviously would’ve known who I was [laughs]. No, I remember we toured Australia at one time — in 2015, I think — and that’s when we hung out for the first time.

What were the sessions like for Maid of Honour?

I’m not in person. I’m never there. I’m just a text away.

Were there sounds or styles that he would send you as references?

We talk about music every day. We talk about everything. His brain is so advanced. It’s insane. He knows so much stuff. You can talk to him about anything, and we just always have our thoughts and shit.

Are you thinking of stuff that would work for Drake? Or are you always making new music and you just show him what you have?

I’m always working on stuff, but the majority of this album I did with my team. I did basically everything with ZECCA, who has been a big, big part of a lot of this music that we were making. He was just constantly sending ideas nonstop, nonstop, nonstop. We would piece things together. The music was just exceptional. I literally had a team of four super-genius producers. We had 10 different versions of every song, maybe 20 for some of them. It was the best of the best. The music was undeniable. It was hard because we had to keep trying to make something new and refreshing.

The goal is to make music that’s refreshing, not something that you’ve heard before. That’s the hard part. That’s the thing that they’ve all done. That’s what they’re masters at. Drake is the master at making something refreshing. To be a small tool in his new era of making something refreshing, we had to work on sending him stuff that was refreshing.

You’re on the road 200 nights a year. How do you stay fresh when you get requests from someone like Drake?

Rest and recovery are so important. I take health very seriously; just not overpushing it. Ice plunge, saunas, I go and see my grandma. I’m building some schools, just trying to do everything possible to stay alive, stay afloat. I’m working hard, and all that allows me to stay focused.

What’s it like having to stay quiet about all the new music? Is it hard?

Man, of course. All I could do was just listen to it in a car or on my headphones for so long. I should just be grateful because, come on, getting to hear anything from Drake before it drops is already a blessing.

Do you have a favorite beat on Maid of Honour?

“Road Trips” is crazy. I did that one with Alvaro, ZECCA, and Kid Masterpiece. If you could go back 10 years from now and play it for someone and be like, “Yo, this is what Drake’s going to be making 10 years from now,” everyone would be like, “Huh? What? Crazy.”

You made it onto HABIBTI as well. Was that a surprise?

Yeah, I didn’t hear anything until the albums came out. It’s dope. It’s amazing. At the end of the day, he’s crushing it. He’s the GOAT.

What does it mean to you to put on for Latin America and be a representative for that part of the world?

It’s a blessing to represent us, especially at a time when so much stuff is going on with Hispanic issues and immigration issues. To have something positive happening is good. Me being a small part of that is dope and one of the biggest honors in my life.