A quick search reveals plenty of tutorials that attempt to explain how you can create ‘the Drake underwater sound’ in your DAW, but if you fancy doing it in one hit, you may want to consider Thenatan’s aptly-named Underwater plugin.
Promising to provide “the quickest way to create that ‘40’ Drake-style Underwater effect” (40 being producer Noah Shebib, who helped to popularise the effect thanks to his work with the Canadian hip-hop/R&B star), Underwater is a simple plugin with just a few controls. Turn down the Filter knob and tweak the Redux (lo-fi degrading) and Drive (distortion) knobs and you should be about done.
There’s also a low-cut switch that cuts everything under 80Hz, the option to choose from seven slope settings and a master output knob. For that authentic woe-is-me downtempo vibe, a tear-shedding animation is included, too.
Underwater runs as a VST/AU plugin on PC and Mac and is available now for the introductory price of $12.50 (regular price is $50). Found out more on the Thenatan website.
