dj khaled god did album lyrics review

DJ Khaled – GOD DID Ft. Jay-Z, Lil Wayne | Lyrics Meaning Revealed

DJ Khaled went all out for the title track of his 2022 album ‘GOD DID.’ In this song, titled the same, DJ Khaled enlists some hip-hop veterans such as Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and John Legend and Fridayy on the hook. One thing quite apparent in the song is that Jay-Z went in for the kill.

DJ Khaled released his thirteenth studio album ‘GOD DID’ on August 26, 2022. The album is stacked with features from some of the most popular artists such as Drake, Eminem, Lil Baby, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Durk, Roddy Ricch, Quavo, SZA, Kodak Black, Don Toliver, Travis Scott, Gunna, City Girls, Latto, Juice WRLD, and Jadakiss.

The highlight of the album is also the title track; “GOD DID.” In the song, DJ Khaled along with Rick Ross, Jay-Z, and Lil Wayne raps about how it was just God and themselves who believed in them when no one else did. Jay-Z goes into detail about his days when he had to deal drugs to survive to becoming a billionaire today.

The track runs for 8-minutes and 22 seconds.

Listen to “GOD DID” by DJ Khaled, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, & John Legend

Buy ‘GOD DID’ Album on Apple Music & Amazon

DJ Khaled “God Did” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review

Intro

DJ Khaled gives us some words of wisdom to live by;

While you hatin’ and being jealous
You could be over here embracing that love

Showing love and respect almost always wins. Khaled has been reuniting artists all through his career and much of the success of his career is due to the number of artists he has worked with.

If you feel like nobody believes in you, just remember that God does!

Pre-chorus/Chorus

Fridayy sings that most people did not care for these artists when they were coming up. Especially, considering the lineup of this song, all the artists’ beginnings predate the 1990s. The industry and society were much less friendly back then, to say the least.

We are about to hear the story of each artist in the verses to come.

Verse 1

Florida-based rapper Rick Ross kicks off the song. At 46 years old, Rick Ross is one of the OGs in the hip hop game. Although not as successful as the other artists on this song, Rick Ross has made a permanent position for himself in hip hop.

In the song, Rick Ross recalls how he had more non-believers than believers all throughout his career. It seemed as if everyone wanted to see him crash and burn. But, he continued on his journey to become the iconic name that he is today.

Rick Ross seemingly apologizes to everyone for the sins of his past. He has been charged with assault, kidnapping, and firearm possession in the past. He also adds that God has forgiven him for these sins.

Verse 2

Lil Wayne jumps on “GOD DID” and boasts that God was doing his best work on the day God created him. And he has facts to back this claim. Lil Wayne has risen to become an icon in the rap game. He inspired a whole generation of ‘Lil’ rappers, although any successor is yet to prove themselves worthy. Lil Wayne singlehandedly popularized face tattoos among rappers. And these are the facts!

But I’m so cultivating, everybody replicate me, n*gga, face facts
Dreadlocks, face tats, I’m the apex

In the lyrics, Lil Wayne drops some bars using contrasting facts. He says how the haters start behaving like sharks when they smell blood. He calls it acting fishy. When this happens, Wayne says he will act like an a*s (a donkey) and they will have to kiss him at some point (a play on as*-kissing).

Before they overrate me, they gon’ underestimate me

Every critic underestimates an upcoming artist before the artist proves themselves. Then the same critics will praise them. The critics could also be replaced with the record labels, fans, and even other artists.

Lil Wayne, too, came from poverty but was soon picked up by Cash Money Records at the age of 9. He was a prominent figure in the teenage hip-hop scene back then and soon rose to fame and money.

Wayne ends his verse by saying that he prayed a lot and said few words and God took care of his journey. He indirectly hints that he put his faith in God and kept up his grind and his success story just unfolded in front of him.

Verse 3

Jay-Z goes berserk in this verse–for 4 minutes straight!

Hov kicks off his verse with an apology for his past;

Please, Lord forgive me for what the stove did
Nobody touched the billi’ until Hov did

Jay-Z came from poverty and used to be a drug dealer to make ends meet. A stove is used to make crack cocaine, one of the most dangerous and destructive drugs available. Fast-forward three decades and Jay-Z is a billionaire–no, not off of drugs. As of 2022, Jay-Z’s net worth is estimated at USD 1.3 billion thanks to his business ventures such as fashion brands, clubs and bars, record labels, and music streaming services.

Hov was also the first rapper to turn into a billionaire in 2019. However, he did open doors for other artists that followed him. He namedrops Kanye (net worth USD 2 billion) and Rihanna (net worth USD 1.4 billion). Jay-Z has influenced these artists in some capacity. Rihanna is also signed to Jay’s entertainment company Roc Nation. Hov also mentions legendary basketball player LeBron James as another billionaire who was signed to Jay’s sports management company Roc Nation.

Next, Jay-Z talks about his miraculous career transition–from street corner drug dealer to owning a luxurious medicinal marijuana company, named Monogram. Back in the day, he ran the risk of getting arrested. Today, he runs an empire.

Jay-Z's net worth explained (Image: businessdriveanddream)
Jay-Z’s net worth explained (Image: businessdriveanddream)

Jay-Z’s business ventures have been recognized by some of the most prestigious institutions such as Forbes, and Hov cannot believe how that kid from the street corners got his face on the cover of Forbes magazine, and his own corner office (mostly reserved for CEOs).

Some would still argue that Jay-Z still makes most of his money from alcohol and weed. For this, Jay-Z says you can judge him however you want, he is not doing anything illegal now.

Since Roc Nation manages Rihanna, her fashion brand Fenty, which has seen massive success, also comes under Jay-Z’s business umbrella.

Hov realizes that he beat the odds. And the odds were stacked against him from the start. This is why he has taken it upon himself to show the path to many like him. Hov says he is the real African American dream. But nothing fell on his lap. He earned everything he has today. He played against the system and won. But he does admit that he played a dangerous hand.

The way we used to play with life
I’m now careful with the sentences, them only jail bars I like (Woo)

Young Hov had nothing to lose. The 52-year-old Hov has a billion-dollar empire to lose. With this double entendre, Hov explains that the only sentences he prefers now are that of his lyrics about jail. He would much rather avoid the literal court sentences and jail time now.

Hov flashes back to the days when every day was a struggle for survival. He has seen countless soldiers fighting for their lives and failing on the streets. Hov knows how some systems were built for people like him to fail. And this only cultivated a never-ending hatred towards some laws and lawmakers. Fortunately, he can afford lawyers now–a luxury most soldiers on the streets cannot even dream of.

Every artist on the track so far attributed most or all of their success to God. Hov doesn’t seem to have an opinion on this, yet.

But, he does say that what he has been rapping so far isn’t just a song–it’s a hymn. Hov is showing a way to people who have had odds stacked against them. He is narrating his story so anyone who wants to take a page out of ‘The book of Hov.’

Jesus turned water to wine, for Hov, it just took a stove

Turning water into wine is one of many miracles that Jesus could perform for his followers. Hov says his trick was the drugs. However, we do not believe that Hov is telling people to follow him on this path. He follows up with the below;

I just got a million off a sync
Without riskin’ a million years tryna get it out the sink (Woo)

A sync license deal is when Jay-Z’s song is played on a commercial. These sync deals are known to be very lucrative. Making a million dollars off of a sync deal would be a walk in the park for an artist of the caliber of Jay-Z. He says this to remind us that he chose the correct path when life gave him the options. He could have expanded his drug business and possibly become a drug lord with the risk of life in prison or worse. But, he chose the safer route and still became a business mogul.

At the end of the verse, Jay-Z has a kind reminder for anyone who doesn’t recall his name when the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.) conversation. He could have just said shut up to them. But Hov brings up a famous interview between Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and interviewer Mike Wallace. In this interview, Mike Wallace claimed that Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Louis Farrakhan seemingly agitated by this remark pointed out how corrupted the United Nations of America is and hinted that Mike Wallace should keep quiet about boasting about a moral superiority of the USA that does not exist in reality. All of this was just so Hov could say that his haters and doubters should probably stay silent.

Jay-Z aired a lot on “God Did” and told us how Hov did it in his life and showed us how he does it in his verse!

Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.

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