Drake Enlisted This Central American Producer for ‘Honestly, Nevermind’

Did you know a Nicaraguan-Guatemalan producer helped Drake get his groove back on his new album? The Canadian superstar turned to GORDO to co-produce nearly half of the Honestly, Nevermind LP. GORDO had a hand in creating some of the album’s biggest songs, including “Sticky” and “Massive.”

The news of a Latine producer working on Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind album went viral thanks to a TikTok post by @dreaatheb. “I love to see Central American people winning in our community, so that’s why I had to talk about it,” she said while praising GORDO’s contributions to the LP. She also made sure to shout out his DMV roots in D.C.

GORDO, whose real name is Diamanté Anthony Blackmon, was born in Guatemala. His family also has roots in Managua, Nicaragua. At age 10, he became an American citizen. In 2012, he started making an impact in the electronic music space as DJ Carnage. In 2016, Remezcla covered his ascent in EDM as an emerging producer. He’s helped craft hits like iLoveMakonnen’s “I Like Tuh,” G-Eazy’s “Loaded,” and “i SHYNE” with Lil Pump. He’s also performed as music festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Ultra Music Festival.

He recently retired the DJ Carnage name to become GORDO. Though he has shared a close friendship with Drake, the two didn’t officially work together until they recorded Honestly, Nevermind in Toronto. Among the songs GORDO co-produced are “Sticky,” “Massive,” “Currents,” and “Calling My Name.” He also had a hand in “Ties that Binds” and “Flight’s Booked.” The LP marked a drastic shift for Drake, who embraced more of a dance and deep house sound across most of the 14 tracks. House music seems to be taking hold of the pop music scene, as evidenced by Beyoncé’s recent club opus, “Break My Soul.”

For the rest of the year, GORDO is booked to play shows in places like Las Vegas, Helsinki, Ibiza, New York, Vienna, Berlin, Chicago, Mallorca, and Ottawa. He will also be joining Swedish House Mafia on their U.S. and European tour in the fall. GORDO is hard at work on his next album, Papi Gordo II.