This didn't need to be a double album. Before DJ Khaled fans take exception and
fly off the handle, let me clarify that I'm referring to the packaging and NOT
to the quality of the music. Disc one is 42 minutes long, disc two is 44 minutes long,
and current CD manufacturing tolerances allow between 80-85 minutes of music on a disc.
Cutting just ONE track from either disc would have enabled this entire double
album to fit onto one disc alone. I nominate "I'm So Grateful (Intro)." It's five minutes
long, it features some singing from Sizzla I doubt rap fans care about (I don't), and
we already know DJ Khaled is "Grateful" for the blessings in his life just from the
album title and the fact he put his son Asahd on the cover. In fact he's so "Grateful"
for Asahd that he even made him the executive producer, which means his young son is
already earning revenue off royalty points while he's still in diapers. That's dope.
Khaled might be getting even more royalties from a double disc though, so I suspect
that's why nothing got trimmed before this one went into production.
Anyway you're no doubt already familiar with the first single "Shining." Co-produced by DJ
Khaled and Danja, the song features samples of "Walk the Way You Talk" by Dionne Warwick
and coincidentally enough Osunlade's "Dionne." It's a thumping piece of dance club
material right in the Khaled wheelhouse that features guest appearances from Beyonce and
hubby Jay-Z (congratulations to both on their own recent newborn twins joining daughter Blue Ivy). It's a hot reminder that
Shawn Carter is planning a new album for summer 2017.
Jay-Z: "One ain't enough, I need two
That night, I mixed the Ace with the D'US'
Hit a triple-double in the Garden
I dunk my left wrist like I'm Harden (swish)
Ran to the dealer, bought twin Mercedes'
The European trucks for the twin babies
Don't let me have a son, I'm a fool (haha)
Send him to school in all my jewels (haha)
I want a boy and girl to fight for truth
Whatever God give me, I'm cool
I've been winnin' so long it's like alchemy
I've been playin' cards with the house money"
That was a good start to promoting "Grateful" but it quickly got blown out of the water
by the Nic Nac laced "I'm the One" featuring an incredibly overloaded line-up -- Justin
Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne and Quavo (Migos). An eye popping video which featured
just about as much eye candy as possible (including an extra endowed woman jiggling as
she rides a white horse) has done about 400 million views as of this writing. That's right.
Nearly half a billion. Even in 2017 sex still sells.
The only single from the album to have done anywhere close to that amount of video spins
is the just released "Wild Thoughts" featuring Bryson Tiller and Rihanna, which is already
at 55 million and counting. Thanks to the Wyclef and Santana samples from "Maria Maria"
it's easily the best of the songs we've discussed so far. Speaking of "sex sells" who can
argue with watching the sultry Rihanna shake, sing and snake to the beat of what appears
to figuratively and literally be the hottest party in the Caribbean?
If you're noticing a trend here it's probably the same one you've noticed on
previous DJ Khaled releases. Even though he's
gone out of his way to take a co-production credit on a majority of the songs on the
two discs, there's one thing that Mr. Khaled Mohamed Khaled has always relied on,
and that's his ability to RECRUIT. Khaled brings in the hottest producers and
the hardest artists, and then he puts his "We the Best" branding and trademark vocal
shoutouts on the results. What does that make Khaled exactly? He's a "producer" of
an entirely different variety - he produces RESULTS. Undoubtedly he can and
does produce his own beats at times, but he purposefully blurs the lines as to who
does what and lets the audience decide whether or not that really matters. Listening
to "Good Man" featuring Jadakiss and Pusha T though, I'm giving the credit to his
co-producers considering the legendary Cool & Dre get billing along with with 808-Ray. They made it a hot track
and the rappers made it a hot song.
That's a Khaled album (or double album) in a nutshell. They're a modern day
version of mixtapes not labelled as such, with Khaled using all the connections
he's made over the last two decades in the music business to compile together a
bunch of hits. In the old days rappers and producers would contribute to a street
deejay's mixtape for the buzz and the exposure. Khaled's grind is more refined
where everybody (including Asahd) is going to get paid. It's a self-feeding cycle
because the DJ Khaled brand has become associated with hits, so artists in turn
want to be associated with DJ Khaled, and until something comes along to break
that cycle (say a major scandal) people will keep hopping on the bandwagon and
Khaled will keep dropping albums where he's so "Grateful" for their support.
It's virtually "Secured."
There us a downside -- virtually no new
artists can break into the DJ Khaled line-up at this point, which is one advantage
the old school cassette mixtapes of the 1980's and 90's had. In fact it was on one
of those mixtapes that I first heard "Flavor for the Non Believes" by the Poetical
Prophets, who would later change their name to Mobb Deep (R.I.P. Prodigy). Nobody is getting that kind of exposure on Khaled's
albums these days. This is a star studded line-up with Drake ("To the Max"), Future
("I Can't Even Lie"), Nicki Minaj ("Nobody"), and a few of your "grimy" favorites
like Fat Joe and Raekwon ("Billy Ocean"). So are you going to enjoy all 80+ minutes
of this double album that COULD have been a single disc? Unless you're not a
fan of Migos and Travis Scott, yes.
Still if it's innovating, exposing unsigned hype to your ears for the first time,
and giving producers unfettered credit for their work when they drop hot beats that
you want DJ Khaled is not the guy for you. He's got a hit machine that just keeps on
rolling though and doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
Music Vibes: 7 of 10
Lyric Vibes: 7 of 10TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10
![[Grateful]](../coverart/djkhaled-Grateful.jpg)
This didn't need to be a double album. Before DJ Khaled fans take exception and
fly off the handle, let me clarify that I'm referring to the packaging and NOT
to the quality of the music. Disc one is 42 minutes long, disc two is 44 minutes long,
and current CD manufacturing tolerances allow between 80-85 minutes of music on a disc.
Cutting just ONE track from either disc would have enabled this entire double
album to fit onto one disc alone. I nominate "I'm So Grateful (Intro)." It's five minutes
long, it features some singing from Sizzla I doubt rap fans care about (I don't), and
we already know DJ Khaled is "Grateful" for the blessings in his life just from the
album title and the fact he put his son Asahd on the cover. In fact he's so "Grateful"
for Asahd that he even made him the executive producer, which means his young son is
already earning revenue off royalty points while he's still in diapers. That's dope.
Khaled might be getting even more royalties from a double disc though, so I suspect
that's why nothing got trimmed before this one went into production.