DJ Khaled is back with his twelfth studio album KHALED KHALED. Through 14 tracks and an overabundance of a-list features, we get a disjointed experience that reeks of mediocrity. Almost every song samples an iconic hip-hop song, but they’ve interpolated them in the most thoughtless way possible. Whether it’s Justin Timberlake signing over Ghostface Killah’s “All That I Got Is You” or Lil Wayne rapping over the poorly chopped up adaptation of Jay-Z’s “Heart Of The City” on “THANKFUL,” these otherwise solid performances are held down by the poor interpolations of these infamous hip hop classics. Speaking of Jay-Z, he and Nas come together for the godly “SORRY NOT SORRY,” which is hands down the best moment on the entire LP. As it goes for other standout moments, cuts like “I DID IT” mesh the likes of DaBaby, Lil Baby, Post Malone, and Megan Thee Stallion for an intense posse cut that flips the iconic Eric Clapton single “Layla”. While there are some highlights throughout the record, KHALED KHALED is nothing more than mediocre pop-rap.
Rating: 4.4/10
Pros:
- Jay-Z and Nas on the same song
- Some of the weird collaborations turn out surprisingly good
- Fun bangers
- Solid performances scattered around
Cons:
- Terrible job sampling iconic hip hop songs
- Messy tracklist
- A fair amount of filler
- Some tracks lack any sort of chemistry
