DJ Khaled’s 13th studio album God Did arrived at midnight, and with it came a much-hyped Jay-Z verse on the title track alongside Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend, and Fridayy.
After strong sixteens from fellow legends Rozay and Weezy, Jay pops up at the 2:45 mark to relentlessly go in for four minutes. While an early bar started getting celebrated immediately—“How many billionaires can come from Hov crib?/I count three: me, Ye, and Rih/Bron’s a Roc boy, so four technically”—a later moment sees Jigga referencing Meek Mill’s recent departure from Roc Nation Management.
“Me and Meek could never beef, I freed that n***a from a whole bid/Hov did/Next time we have a discussion who the GOAT, you donkeys know this,” the 24-time Grammy-winner raps.
Meek shared Chino Braxton’s tweet quoting the lyric, agreeing, “Never!!!!!!” He also retweeted one of DJ Khaled’s posts promoting the album, writing, “GOD ALWAYS DID 💎 about to roll up zone out!”
The premise that Meek and Jay even could beef stems from the former leaving Roc Nation Management last month after a decade working with them. Their time together yielded a joint venture deal with Meek’s Dreamchasers label as well as the creation of Reform Alliance, a nonprofit aggressively working to rewrite unjust probation and parole policies.
In a pair of tweets following the mid-July news, Meek wrote, “I’m personally handling my own business so I can take risk and grow ..we came to that agreement together..I have a label deal with roc for my artist and I got reform super tied with them and many other investments wit jigga. And roc nation is my family don’t mix my post aimed at Atlantic mixed up with roc or MMG…they ain’t stop nothing I’m doing we made about a 100m together des mike and Hov saved my life b4 And put a lot of energy into it I’m not behind on my favors in life wit my people I’m good.”
As for freeing Mill “from a whole bid,” Jay-Z spoke out numerous times after the Philly rapper was given a two-to-four-year prison sentence in November 2017, calling it “unjust and heavy handed” on social media and writing a powerful op-ed in the New York Times. “On the surface, this may look like the story of yet another criminal rapper who didn’t smarten up and is back where he started,” Hov wrote. “But consider this: Meek was around 19 when he was convicted on charges relating to drug and gun possession, and he served an eight-month sentence. Now he’s 30, so he has been on probation for basically his entire adult life.”
Meek also told the Breakfast Club the following year, “Jay-Z is actually responsible for some of my legal fees. Which I thought was the dopest in the world because it was some millions of dollars. I don’t even think I could have afforded it.”
DJ Khaled confirmed earlier this month that he landed yet another verse from Jay-Z. On 360 with Speedy Morman, Khaled said he knew all along that Hov would want to jump on the track “God Did” and just needed to “let the music speak.” The hitmaker recalled playing his album for Jay-Z in New York and realizing the moment the title track won him over. “Immediately, when he heard it, he started spitting the bars,” Khaled said. “I can’t make this up, there were a lot of people in the room that day. Ask ’em all.”
In true Khaled fashion, he hinted ahead of the album’s release that Jay’s verse on “God Did” could be one of his best. “Now, as far as you saying the very best one, I’ve heard people tell me that when they heard it. And these are people that…they know,” he said.
While speaking with Kevin Hart on his Peacock series Hart to Heart, Jay-Z revealed he never charges for features, saying his collaborations are based off of relationships more often than not. “It’s actually always been mostly relationships,” the mogul explained. “Sometimes it’s talent.”
Jay previously worked with DJ Khaled on a number of songs across his career, including “Shining” and “Top Off” with wife Beyoncé. The latter included Future, who also linked up with Khaled and Hov on “I Got the Keys.”
