DJ Khaled - “GOD DID” Review
DJ Khaled is a master of social media and marketing. No matter the quality of his records, he has found ways to consistently stay relevant in the industry. He might be best known for his producer tags in which he wails his own name, and other phrases like “Another one,” and “We the best music.” A listener will know when they are listening to one of his songs — it is impossible to miss.
While he does make a name for himself, it also might be hard not to ask, what exactly does he do? He has an array of industry figures who assist him in producing, writing and featuring on every single track. How much actual work is he putting in himself? It’s hard to say.
“GOD DID” is more tolerable than DJ Khaled’s previous efforts, but is stuck functioning like a playlist lacking direction and straying away from an attempted central theme.
One has to give DJ Khaled credit. He can get the biggest names in all of music to essentially do whatever he wants. The amount of features on the 18-track album are almost overwhelming, but are impressive considering they are all on one project. As Khaled does not rap here, it is up to the artists he plucked to carry the weight. So how do they do it?
Well as any DJ Khaled project goes, it is pretty hit or miss. One couldn’t help but be excited to see a new collaboration between Dr. Dre, Kanye West and Eminem when the tracklist was initially dropped. Remixing Ye's “Use This Gospel,” from 2019 seemed like the perfect fit, yet it came up short.
Dre’s production makes the song sound much more cinematic and climactic compared to the original. Unfortunately, Eminem’s verse feels very out of place and prevents it from having any sort of replay value.
One of DJ Khaled’s biggest issues in the past has been cutting unlikely collaborations and not following through with them. Here, he has a better sense of who clicks well with each other, and attempts to make the most of their chemistry.
Unfortunately, most tracks seem more cookie-cutter than ever, with a giant heap of these tracks being an absolute snooze fest. Audiences have heard these songs before; these DJ Khaled tracks are just slightly different variations of them.
The length of the record also does not help, several tracks should have been cut, and others trimmed down. There is no reason why someone should have to listen to five or six different producer tags when they are just saying the same thing over and over again.
The title track, “GOD DID” is easily the best part of the entire record. Featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and John Legend, the opening to the record is epic. Everyone does their part, especially Jay-Z, whose verse easily passes the two minute mark. He by no means phones it in here, he delivered above and beyond expectations. The production is also phenomenal with elements of gospel and incredible electric guitar thrown into the mix.
“STAYING ALIVE'' with Drake and Lil Baby is a slightly goofy but enjoyable cut. It interpolates the Bee Gees classic, but is significantly better than the last time Drake attempted to pull that off (Way 2 Sexy).
Other tracks were unfortunately very underwhelming. 21 Savage, who is regarded as one of the better feature artists in this era, clearly did not put in his best effort on "WAY PAST LUCK." Both Quavo and Takeoff were only fine on “PARTY.”
“GOD DID” is tiring — nothing new is brought to the table here. After only a few tracks, one will know how the entire album sounds. Although there are a few highlights, they do not carry the record as a whole.
This album simply exists. It is ineffective and harmless. It came, and for many people, it has already gone.
Rating: 4/10
Reviewers' Favorite Tracks: "GOD DID,” “STAYING ALIVE”
Reviewers' Least Favorite Track: "THESE STREETS KNOW MY NAME"
Caelan Chevrier is a third-year majoring in marketing. To contact him, email cjc6789@psu.edu.
