Elkan is positioning himself as a rising solo star with Drake's blessing—his 3-album project shows ambition beyond just being behind the boards, and his own track 'Robotic Love' proves he's ready to stand on his own merit.
The fact that Elkan couldn't give a straight answer about Kendrick tells you everything. In hip-hop circles, loyalty is currency, and refusing to pick a side means you're trying to keep doors open on both ends of the industry's nastiest feud.
Published May 26, 2026 at 2:30 PM PDT by TMZ. Elkan produced Drake's 'Nokia,' one of his biggest hits. He was signed by Big Beat/Atlantic Records and just released solo track 'Robotic Love' while working with Drake on a 3-album project.
Elkan might be playing neutral, but in the Drake-Kendrick war, neutrality is its own statement—and it won't protect him from picking sides eventually.
The man who helped craft one of Drake's biggest modern hits is keeping his lips sealed about the rap game's most explosive rivalry—and that silence is louder than any verse. Elkan, the producer-turned-artist behind the chart-topping 'Nokia,' sat down with camerawomen and addressed the elephant in the room: does working with the 6ix9ine—sorry, the Toronto icon—mean you've sworn off Kendrick Lamar? His answer was conspicuously diplomatic.
When pressed directly on whether his Drake partnership means he's abandoned the Compton legend's discography, Elkan gave what sources are calling an 'interesting' non-answer. Translation: he didn't say yes, he didn't say no, and that's exactly the point. In an industry where allegiances define careers—especially after the scorched-earth diss tracks that dominated hip-hop headlines—Elkan is clearly trying to thread a needle between two warring camps that have shown zero interest in reconciliation.
The irony isn't lost on observers: Elkan just signed with Big Beat/Atlantic Records and released his own solo offering, 'Robotic Love,' while simultaneously working with Drake on what sources describe as a massive 3-album project. That's a lot of plates spinning for someone who won't commit to a simple playlist question. Industry insiders suggest this careful positioning is deliberate—Elkan knows that in the post-'Like That' landscape, picking the wrong side of the Drake-Kendrick divide can tank a career faster than a bad feature verse.
The 'Nokia' connection remains Elkan's calling card—it's one of the tracks that anchored Drake's commercial dominance during one of his most contentious creative periods. But now he's stepping out from behind the production boards, and the industry is watching to see which team he ultimately joins. For now, at least publicly, Elkan is keeping everyone guessing—and that's a strategy that only works until it doesn't.
