DJ Khaled is notoriously known for having the ability to bring together some of the world's biggest artists to be a part of his records. Nothing has changed when it comes to his latest project Grateful. To get Jay-Z and Beyonce, arguably the biggest stars in hip-hop, to be a part of "Shining," though is almost out of this world. DJ Khaled stopped by Hot 97 and let them know how it all came together.
"I had a meeting with [Jay] about some things, and I played Jigga the instrumental, because I wanted Jay Z on it, and I wanted to get a single on it, I noticed that he liked it out of the gate. I could see it," he said. Sensing a rare opportunity, Khaled pushed to get Beyonce on the project as well, asking Jay to show his wife. "That's when the face changed, like, 'Yo my man, you doing too much.' But I was like Jigga, trust me, there's going to be a vibe," he explains.
Almost a year after that initial meeting, the night before the Grammy's, DJ Khaled received a long anticipated text from Hov. "Jay hit me up like, 'Record done.' I'm going to be honest, when I hear news like that, I shed tears, I shed good emotions," he said. "I get to the crib, [Jay] played me the record, I went crazy. I'm hearing Beyoncé, I'm hearing Jigga, then he's like, 'Yo, we're dropping this tomorrow night.' I'm like Jay, I gotta mix the record, I gotta put my sprinkles, I gotta clear the sample, I gotta put a plan together... He's like, 'I know you ain't trippin.'"
It's rare to get Jay-Z OR Beyonce on a track, but to pull them both in to create a hit record is something many find enviable of the Grateful producer. That's what he seems to do best though.