When Drakereleased his memorable 2011 effort Take Care, included in the tracklist was a song that no one could have predicted would make waves the way it did. Released as the first single from the album, “Marvin’s Room” became went on to become a cultural phenomenon for its honest display of vulnerability. Drake’s frequent collaborator and mastermind behind the song Noah “40” Shebib shared a never-before-heard story about the studio session behind the iconic song involving none other than Michael Jackson.


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In a new interview for Pensado’s Place, Shebib shared that prior to recording the song, Drake’s exclusive engineer Noel Cadastre had to clear out many of Michael Jackson’s old possessions in the studio since he was the last artist to use it before his passing. The King of Pop passed away after suffering from cardiac arrest in the midst of planning his comeback concert series This Is It back in 2009. The recording sessions for Take Care began the following year.

“When we had first arrived there, [OVO] Noel who was my assistant at the time…Noel had to go into the studio and remove all the stuff that Michael had left there,” he explained to the interviewers. Swipe to listen to the full story below.

Named after the studio the song was recorded in, Marvin Gaye’s Los Angeles Studio has served as the recording space for tons of legendary acts like Michael Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Usher, and Mariah Carey.

What do you think of the interesting fun fact about “Marvin’s Room” from Shebib? Let us know down in the comments.