DJ Khaled’s 13th studio album God Did has been out for a week now, and the most prominent topic of conversation has been Jay-Z’s verse on the title track where he raps for four minutes. It is major not only because of the verse’s lyrical content but also the fact that Hov does not pass out features to just anyone, especially in this part of his career where he is busy with so many other ventures. What many do not know is just how much effort Khaled had to put in to get an initial feature from Hov and the subsequent bond they formed over the years, which he explained in a recent interview with GQ.
Khaled first connected with Jay-Z in 2013 when he recorded Magna Carta Holy Grail. “I was blessed to watch him record a lot of Magna Carta. Shout to [Roc Nation SVP] Lenny S. and Jay for always letting me be in the studio with them. Not just getting a chance to see him work—we became brothers and our friendship became stronger and stronger,” he told GQ’s Sama’an Ashrawi. “It took me a long time [to get his verse]. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to do it. It’s just, Jay-Z is busy with so many different things. And at that time he was extra busy.”
DJ Khaled’s determination was so strong that he even moved to a condo in NYC around that time just to be close to the Roc Nation founder, as told to Music Choice. “I basically got a condo in NYC for a whole year to stay close by him and let him know how hungry I was for that verse.” His hard work evidently paid off, as Hov has appeared on every DJ Khaled album since 2015’s I Changed A Lot.
Check out the full DJ Khaled interview with GQ here.