DJ Khaled has always been known as the guy to call when you want to assemble the rap avengers on a hip-hop album. He and Metro Boomin are two of the biggest American producers who can bring popular names together on the same track.
You don’t need to be a particular rap fan to know that the hip hop world has, for over a year now, been shaken by feuds involving Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Rick Ross, and more. With all these ongoing disputes, fans were always wondering where Khaled stood.
Back in January, he hinted that Drake would appear on his upcoming 14th studio album, “Aalam of God,” which is set to drop this year.
Just recently, Khaled sat down on September 11th with Fat Joe and Jadakiss for their Joe and Jada podcast and made one thing clear: he doesn’t take sides. In the interview, the American mogul explained why he chose to stay out of the drama when Drake was beefing with other artists.
DJ Khaled: “Always Love and Positivity”
When asked by Fat Joe about the Drake, Rick Ross, and Future feud, DJ Khaled made it clear where he stood. He told Joe, “I love Drake, I love Ross, I love Future. What it feel like I didn’t get in that energy. There’s two energies I’m not gonna get in: hate.”
Khaled then asked Joe to throw him a question and ask him how he deals with hate, to which Khaled replied, “I don’t.” He then stressed that his ties to the rappers were genuine, saying, “Those are my brothers. You can’t question my friendship. How? Ain’t nobody like DJ Khaled. Joe, you know that.”
The American DJ and businessman later explained that most of the tension came down to “misunderstandings” and a lack of communication. Even so, he said he’d love to be the guy to bring everyone back together: “When it comes down to DJ Khaled, I’m gonna be the one that tries to fix it. I don’t want no trophy. I don’t want no promotion. I do a lot of shit behind the scenes. At the end of the day, I love my brothers and my brothers know that. I guarantee you they know that that’s what I’m about.”
Further into the podcast, Khaled revealed he would love to squash any ongoing conflicts and do what he does best, which is making the hip hop industry a collaborative place again. Still, it may take far more than a DJ Khaled podcast appearance to bring Drake back into the studio with rappers who switched sides on him.
The Canadian rapper has faced a string of setbacks lately, ranging from losing friendships in the industry to some of his recent songs falling short of reaching #1 on Billboard, and even his well-known gambling losses. Champagne Papi, who is long known for his bold bets and casino games like the ones listed on Casino Guru, often reminds fans how the stakes are always high in his world.
Drake and Khaled Over the Years
Drake and DJ Khaled have teamed up plenty of times over the years on tracks like “For Free,” “No New Friends,” “I’m On One,” and several others. Earlier this year, Khaled revealed that Drake would appear on his upcoming album “Aalam of God” with not just one, but two songs.
Drake cheekily responded on Instagram with the comment, “Must be @drakebell,” before Khaled later deleted the announcement. Since then, he hasn’t shared any updates about the project’s release date.
In August, though, the We the Best mogul did drop two singles from the album: “Brother” featuring NBA Youngboy and Post Malone, and “You Remind Me” with a stellar lineup of Vybz Kartel, Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Mavado, Rorystonelove, and Kaylan Arnold.
“Aalam of God” will be Khaled’s first full-length release since his 2022 Grammy-nominated album “God Did”. Drake, Future, and Rick Ross go way back, and it remains to be seen whether the three will be featured in Khaled’s new project.
Man, I Miss My Dogs
In similar news, Young Thug, who is a long-time collaborative partner and friend to Drake, released a new song and posted the lyrics on Instagram apologizing to the 6 God. This comes after the Atlanta rapper tried to put Drake, Metro, and Future on the same page when they were beefing.
In the song titled “Man I Miss my Dogs,” a beat down Thug appeared to make up for his missteps amid leaked jail phone calls where he allegedly dissed Drake while trying to bring peace to both sides.
In the apology, Young Thug says that he will never go against Drake after all he has done for the rap community.
He also reveals that Drizzy came to visit him at Cobb County like family and tells him to ignore that one leaked jail call and instead focus on the many other calls they shared when he was locked up. Fortunately, it seems Drake is cool with the YSL boss having left a like under the thuggerthugger1 Instagram post.
There is plenty of drama going on, and it’s not easy to keep up with all the twists and turns unfolding in the rap world. All fans can hope for is that all these artists keep dropping good music along the way.
