Ranking the Features on DJ Khaled's Album 'Father of Asahd'

Image via Getty / Neilson Barnard

Song: "Holy Mountain"

Shake mostly handles chorus duty here but a "Ghost Town" knockout contribution, this is not.

Song: "Top Off"

"Top Off" should have been a smash hit with a line-up like this and yet, it's merely cool. Bey and Jay dropped an album together that puts what they do here in the spin cycle, so I'm going to attribute this dub to Nayvadius. This just isn't his best hook work, plain and simple. Maybe he still felt a way over "The Story of O.J."

Song: "Celebrate"

I'm still running ASTROWORLD back so much the disc is skipping, but I don't know what happened here. Flame's hook is a little earworm-y but otherwise, this just ain't it. The visual is fun, though.

Song: "Celebrate"

Post is on less of "Celebrate" than Travis, which is the only reason why he ekes ahead of him.

Song: "No Brainer"

Chano didn't think too hard on this one... but at least it's better than "I Love You So Much." Forgot about that one, didn't you?

Song: "No Brainer"

Quavo FedEx'ed this Next-Day Air, but Quavo on pop-autopilot is still endearing.

Song: "Holy Mountain"

Mavado is talking that talk here, and the only detraction is he just doesn't shine as bright as his peers Sizzla and Buju, who get more airtime to really go in.

Song: "Freak N You"

Technically, I like "Freak N You" a lot more than "Jealous." But since we're talking specifically about features here, and not the overall song, Weezy shines better on the aforementioned posse cut than on this duet with Gunna. Still, overall this song is classic Wayne-sizzurp-lust material and Gunna complements it perfectly. More of these two together please!

Song: "Jealous"

Jhene must have been the one to put Sean onto chakras, right? Right.

Song: "Won't Take My Soul"

Cee-Lo is always solid, but this song kind of sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the rest of the album. And this is nowhere near as compelling as what he did on Offset's album just a few months prior.

Song: "Won't Take My Soul"

I liked NASIR a little more than most, but the complaints a lot of people had about Esco rapping uninterestedly on there is my main issue with this song. Still, it's not a complete waste of time, off the strength of "Pray for the day I bust a nina on that bitch who killed Selena" alone. 

Song: "Just Us"

I'm not really a fan of this one. Every Khaled album features his own spin on a famous beat, i.e. "Wild Thoughts" or Major Key's "Do You Mind." Those offered fresh perspectives on classic production, though; this track really just plays like a "Ms. Jackson" cover (which isn't very compelling). Still, we're judging features here ,and SZA will never not step up to the plate. I just wish she had something more exciting to play with.

Song: "Holy Ground"

After the scorced earth of "Holy Mountain," the album ends with a Buju reprise that flips the script, serving as more of a soothing balm than the intro. As Big Sean would say, harmonize those chakras.

Song: "Wish Wish"

This verse is cool, but I grade any verse that has a tired "We the best" Khaled pun on a Khaled album a little harsher. He doesn't quite match Belcalis' energy. (This ranking is pure coincidence, I'm not a dickhead, I swear!)

Song: "Weather the Storm"

Meek ruminating on his pain is always to the listener's gain.

Song: "You Stay"

One typically expects a Baby feature to land on some hard shit, but he capably bodies the For the Ladies wave here. Solid casting-against-type from directors Khaled and Lenny.

Song: "Jealous"

Chris Brown is a staple in the Khaled troupe, and probably will be until someone throws the book at him. This is the kind of 1Oak-ready hook CB can make in his sleep: absolutely nothing worth writing home about, but solid nonetheless and deceptively catchy.

Song: "You Stay"

It's not a Khaled album without at least one posse cut featuring Jeremih, who always knocks it out of the park.

Song: "Freak N You"

Gunna is an offspring on the Carter family tree, so it's a thrill to hear them together and sounding great in every complimentary way. We need more of this.

Song: "You Stay"

Are you surprised Meek sounds better on the *ladies* track than he does on a song named "Weather the Storm"? Us, too. Multitudes!

Song: "Holy Mountain"

Alongside Buju, Mavado, and Shake, Sizzla sets the tone for the album beautifully. While Buju and Mavado tackle faith more directly, Sizzla preaches wariness. Message received.

Song: "Jealous"

Wayne can skate on bubblegummy radio-type jams like this in his sleep.

Song: "Holy Mountain"

My son Buju kicked his verse off by talking about the gates of hell, and he just gets more pious from there: "Hypocrites and jezebels dance to the Devil's delight/They made a pact, they made a pact." You won't find a heavier verse elsewhere on this album.

Song: "Higher"

There is no one else who I'd want handling hook duty on what would unfortunately turn out to be Nipsey Hussle's last song than this guy. Pathos and heart are guarantees when you see Legend listed, and he did not disappoint.

Song: "You Stay"

Four straight years of high school spanish still weren't enough for me to translate this verse off the top, but what I do know for sure is my guy's flowing his ass off here.

Song: "Big Boy Talk"

Renzel said, "Half of my kilos insured by State Farm." Release Port of Miami 2 immediately!

Song: "Weather the Storm"

My God, Baby bodied this. The fact it isn't higher is just a testament to how stacked the rest of the features on here are. Hopefully this makes the case for him to be included on more of these posse albums moving forward.

Song: "Big Boy Talk"

Part of the fun of a Khaled album is the context and subtext that some of the lineups he arranges carry. Jeezy and Ross rhyming alongside each other will always be a thrill following their contentious beef. Usually, Renzel wins, but I think Jeezy came through with the slightly better verse here.

Song: "Thank You"

Sean spazzed, moreso off energy and flow than actual bars, but still. This feels like the backdoor pilot to whatever he has up his sleeve for later this year with his own album. Consider me hyped.

Song: "Wish Wish"

Phew, this might be the standout on the album. Cardi didn't come to play, and she really floats over Tay Keith production. Something to consider while she keeps working on that sophomore album ya heard?

Song: "Top Off"

JAY-Z's flow isn't as seamless here as it's been elsewhere in 2018, but damn, those Zimmerman bars will always hit. The Family Man turned listening to Kidz Bop with his toddler into a mean-mug flex (because, you see, they're in a '61 Chevy that us brokies couldn't get our hands on if we tried). Then he tees his wife up perfectly to come through and body him. And there's always a ripped-from-his-own-headlines reality factor in Jigga verses that always give them an extra thrill. Bragging about the hefty receipt that he and his entourage racked up on All-Star-Weekend, then letting us know OG Juan picked up the tab is multi-faceted stunting. The clique is rugged indeed.

Song: "No Brainer"

Most pop stars are overrated. Justin Drew Biebervelli, by and large, is not. He came out of his sabbatical last year for Khaled, somehow sounding like he was still in vacation mode and killing it nonetheless. This is just an effortlessly beautiful layup, pure and simple.

Song: "Top Off"

If there's any benefit to keeping this old dog of a song on the album, it's giving this blackout verse from B a proper home. My face melted the first time I heard the queen rhyme "Freaknik" with "Free Meek." If she wants to pause album number seven to give us a rap EP that's all B bars instead, let me be the first to say I'm here for it.

Song: "Higher"

This would have been among the top five features regardless of circumstance. Unfortunately, the context here is unavoidable. There may be more posthumous Nipsey Hussle records to come, but this is the first, and as such, it's a heavy event. If it was a superficial radio posse cut, that might have been a different story; one that may not have even come out of the vault this soon. But then again, Nipsey doesn't do superficial. Even in a compilation arena, Nipsey takes his turn at the mic as an opportunity to deliver a track with meaning. A verse that serves, simultaneously, as an ode to his hometown, his lineage, his legacy, and his love, is Nipsey's music in a microcosm. Listening to the song (particularly the last verse) and watching the video can be somber, but along with the great John Legend on the assist, "Higher" is as much a searing reminder of the talent we lost as it is a winning tribute worth celebrating.