Ever since rising through the musical ranks with the help of his Terror Squad affiliation, DJ Khaled has had a knack for bringing the biggest stars together to participate on his projects, and his latest album, Victory is no different.
Besides usual suspects like T-Pain, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Pit Bull, Young Jeezy, and his own artist Ace Hood; the play list also includes Drake, Usher, John Legend, Busta Rhymes, Buju Banton, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Jim Jones, Bounty Killer, Nelly, Lil Boosie, Nas, Soulja Boy, and plenty more.
After his talkative introduction (feat. Diddy and Busta Rhymes), the most self-confident DJ in the game kicks things off with ‘All I Do Is Win’ (feat. T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, and Rick Ross). Behind the uplifting backdrop with a hook courtesy of T-Pain (of course), the three MC’s simply talk about how they never end up in the losing column.
From there, ‘Put Your Hands Up’ (feat. Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Plies, and Schife) takes command with its slower tempo. An All-Star cast makes an appearance on The Runners production of ‘Fed Up’ which features Usher, Drake, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and Young Jeezy, and showcases a less-than-impressive outing by Weezy.
The strongest song on the album by far is the title track of ‘Victory’ featuring Nas and John Legend, where Mr. Jones drops a verbal lecture with one verse only, all behind the perfect drum and piano loops provided by The Inkredibles.
Jim Jones goes it alone on ‘Ball,’ which sounds reminiscent of Snoop Dogg’s ‘I Wanna Rock,’ which originally came from Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock’s ‘It Takes Two.’
Other songs that fill up DJ Khaled’s new offering are the braggadocio sounds of ‘Rockin All My Chains’ (feat. Birdman, Bun B, and Soulja Boy), ‘Bring The Money Out’ (feat. Nelly, Lil Boosie, and Ace Hood), and ‘Killing Me’ (feat. Busta Rhymes, Buju Banton, and Bounty Killer).
As usual [DJ] Khaled does a good job of rounding up the who’s who of the music scene, but (as usual) most of the pairings seem forced together, as opposed to letting the collaborations happen organically.
However, when you’re the “best” like he is, coming up with a new formula isn’t necessarily all that important.
