Released 17th May 2019

Favourite Track: You Stay

It is mainstream sounding music but you can’t help but vibe with it. I don’t know how DJ Khaled does it but he produces some great music, many of which could be hits on their own.  

DJ Khaled’s latest album, Father of Asahd, has been talked about quite a lot recently and it’s no surprise. The title of the album refers to his son who he mentions a lot in his music and on social media. I mean why not? His album, he can name it what he likes. I can’t claim to be a DJ Khaled enthusiast but I do appreciate that his influence is massive and he is always producing hits that have people talking for ages, with my personal favourite being ‘Wild Thoughts’ featuring Rihanna. That song, a modern version of ‘Maria Maria’ by Santana, was such a hit and gained DJ Khaled a LOT more mainstream attention, establishing him as a real force in the music industry. The cover artwork of this album is pretty cool too. It’s DJ Khaled and his son in some bright floral printed shirts sitting outdoors. I really need to recreate this look for an Instagram. But the most striking thing about this album to me is just how many songs there are and how much collaboration there is with artists like Cardi B, Travis Scott, Post Malone and just about any popular rapper or singer trending right now.   

The introduction to this album with the song ‘Holy Mountain’ is a strong one with RnB/Hip-Hop style bass lines and beats with a bit of Reggae thrown in there and piano to lift the song. I like how DJ Khaled always ends up throwing in some of his own random lines and the staple “DJ Khaled!”, “another one!” and “we the best music!” into his songs. I was really excited to see that SZA was featured on ‘Just Us’ because she is AMAZING and DAMN HER VOICE. This song is so beautiful with the lyrics “it’s just us against the world” which is such a Bonnie and Clyde/Scarface/True Romance gangster vibe. What I didn’t expect was the Quindon Tarver-sounding vocal from Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet  (if we have any Baz fans up in here who remember this in the rendition of Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’) in his very much RnB song ‘You Stay’ featuring artists Meek Mill, J Balvin, Lil Baby, Jeremih which gave it this interesting edge which I had to take note of.  

I wouldn’t say that all of the songs were as amazing. A lot of them were just kind of meh and I wasn’t raving about them at all because they didn’t have anything memorable about them. However, that being said, ‘Higher’ is a tune. John Legend and Nipsey Hussle on this track sound great and this song is so powerful. The production here is great and the beat is crazy good. The lyrics are important and it’s a song that has a lot of force. It’s very much a “hello, I’m here, pay attention” song and it had my attention.  

I would say that this album is perfect for a poolside party because it’s upbeat, fun and good to dance to.