Daniel East – Toronto Producer Behind Records for Drake, 21 Savage, Future & Young Thug

I want to go back a little bit and ask you about “Hours In Silence,” your song with Drake and 21 Savage. From your perspective, how did it all come together?

The roots of “Hours In Silence” came from me working on sample packs in the middle of COVID. When everything shut down, it put everybody on an even playing field. Everyone was at home in their rooms making music like they were kids again. For me, that was a space I kind of thrived in. During a really hard time, I tried to focus on myself, my spirit, my physical health, my mindset, and especially my musicianship.

I spent about six months learning music theory, scales, and the number system because I wanted to really understand what it took to make the best samples in the world. At that time, my main focus was becoming the best composer I could possibly be, not only for myself but also for my peers. Around January 2020, I made the original idea for “Hours In Silence.” It was a sample called “Starlight,” and it eventually ended up on Inversions Vol. 3, a sample pack from my company, Eastline Libraries.

I remember making that sample and thinking, “Man, this sounds like something Drake would hop on.” But that’s a thought you can have with a lot of ideas. At the time, I didn’t really have a way to make something like that happen, so the best route was to put it through my sample packs. A couple of years later, I got hit up by someone from Drake’s team at OVO. They let me know that a sample had been used, but they were very specific about what they could say at the time. All I really knew was that I had some involvement with a record connected to an OVO artist. I didn’t even assume it was Drake. I was just excited because Toronto has always felt like a home away from home for me, and it felt like a new opportunity was opening up.

This was around August 2022, shortly after I turned 25. That whole summer, and that year in general, were life changing for me. A few weeks after that first conversation, I was having the most normal day possible. I had just come home from the gym, and I was by myself when I got a call. At the very end of the call, he said, “So you know that record we were talking about? It’s a Drake record, and it’s going to be on his collaborative album with 21 Savage.” In that moment, I was just sitting with the feeling of, “Oh wow, this is really happening.” Eventually, the paperwork and everything came through, and it became what it became.

From a creative standpoint, my contribution was the initial sample on the first beat of “Hours In Silence.” That’s what I contributed to the record. I also have to shout out Mcevoy and nyan. Mcevoy is from Vancouver, and nyan is from Brooklyn. Those guys are really the masterminds behind “Hours in Silence.” They made the beat what it is and put it in the right space for someone like Drake to use it. To this day, me, Mcevoy, and nyan are still working on amazing music together, so we’ll see what comes in the future.

When the album dropped, Drake had a radio show through OVO Sound Radio and Sound 42, and I remember feeling excited but nervous. That night, I had my mother and my brother with me, two of the people closest to my heart and two people who supported my journey from the very beginning, when I started producing in 2008. It was a life changing moment. Even now, I can’t help but smile thinking about it.

To see the song on DSPs, go to the liner notes, and see Daniel East next to Noah “40” Shebib was an incredible feeling. 40 is my favorite producer. He’s like my inadvertent mentor. I’ve never even spoken to him, but I spent years studying and admiring the music that came from that camp. To be able to reach that level and be part of it was a blessing.