DJ Drama has confirmed he’s down to face off against DJ Khaled in a Verzuz.
In an interview on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning, the Gangsta Grillz mixtape series creator was asked whether he’s up to go against the God Did artist, who recently suggested he’d smoke any competition he’d face. Drama highlighted that a battle was suggested to Khaled by N.O.R.E. in his Drink Champs interview.
“Khaled said he doesn’t wanna do it but he will smoke anybody, or he’s the best,” said Drama at the 17:00 point of the conversation above. “Then Rory and Mal, I did an interview and it came up.”
Drama explained he’s been asked about doing a Verzuz event for the past two years, even back when the series was getting started on Instagram during the quarantine era. “This is not my first time speaking on it, [but] I think this has been the most attention it’s gotten since,” he continued. “Then Math Hoffa asked, and yeah. … [Khaled] didn’t say he could smoke me, he definitely didn’t—I never heard my name come up. You gotta ask N.O.R.E., ‘Did my name come up?’ ... I didn’t hear my name.”
Ebro co-host Peter Rosenberg interjected to add that he’s not sure if a Drama-Khaled match-up makes sense, but Drama said it could because they’re “the two most popular hip-hop DJs” of the past decade or so. “Nobody’s touching me in my talk game,” Drama said with a straight face before cracking up.
“Listen, on the Khaled situation, I just want to leave it here: I’ve said my piece about, you know, I’m with all the smoke,” he said. “I would love to do it. It’s great for Verzuz. … I have a catalog of records, I have a catalog of projects. I have two superstar artists, Lil Uzi Vert and Jack Harlow. … And this is the thing, listen, I have said Khaled’s name, let’s see Khaled say Drama’s name. I wanna see on record, someone ask Khaled, ‘What do you think about DJ Drama in a Verzuz?’ And let me put it like this: I do nothing but tip my hat and salute to that man and his accomplishments, and the greatness that he’s done for the culture. It’s all love, it’s just competition. When we get on that court, I’m ready to bust anybody’s ass.”
When Khaled spoke on the Drink Champs podcast last month, Noreaga said the superproducer would “smoke everybody in Verzuz.” The God Did mastermind replied, “I mean, that’s facts.” However, he said he’s not eager to jump into a Verzuz, even though he’s personally a big fan of the series.
“I’ve sound-clashed my whole life,” Khaled said. “I’ve been battling my whole life, trust me. I’m at a point right now, I’m blessed. You blessed, you blessed, we all blessed. But when it come down to battling and Verzuz and all that, I’m more of a fan of it because I’ve [been] used to sound-clash my whole life.”
Watch DJ Drama’s full interview on Ebro in the Morning above.
