God Did

Album: God Did (2022)
Charted: 50 17
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The eight-minute title track of DJ Khaled's 13th studio album centers on a self-affirming mantra the famously upbeat DJ and producer frequently uses: "They didn't believe in us, God did."
  • Khaled introduces this posse cut with a dismissal of all those who didn't believe in him. Rick Ross takes the first verse with a swipe at the IRS huge tax bills before Lil Wayne takes the baton. The New Orleans native brags about inspiring younger rappers while giving God the glory for helping him become a rap icon.
  • Jay-Z caps "God Did" with an epic verse just shy of four minutes. Hova details his early life as a drug dealer and journey to billionaire and mentor of other billionaires (he namechecks Kanye, Rihanna and LeBron James). Later, Jay compares Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding to his entrepreneurial miracle of turning cooking crack on the stove into a business empire.
  • Fridayy croons the chorus and John Legend the outro. Francis "Fridayy" Leblanc is a Philadelphia based producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who contributed to two tracks on Chris Brown's Breezy album: "Till The Wheels Fall Off" and "Need You Right Here."
  • DJ Khaled and Fridayy co-produced the track with StreetRunner and Tarik Azzouz. StreetRunner and Tarik Azzouz contributed to eight God Did tracks in total.
  • While Khaled's previous album, Khaled Khaled, includes several collaborations with pop and R&B acts, God Did finds the We The Best head honcho primarily focused on hip-hop.
  • Jay-Z recorded his epic four-minute verse in one take. "This one was different because normally, we'll sit down, we'll do a song, three verses, two verses or whatever, and he'll have a verse and then we'll figure out what's next, Roc-A-Fella engineer Young Guru recalled in a video interview.

    "No, he walked in and this was completely, he's spitting the verse to me," he continued. "One take. He's literally asking me, 'Guru, put the beat on.' I'm like, 'Khaled didn't send me the beat, you didn't send me the beat. Send me the beat.' So then he sends me the joint and I started trying to loop it, and he was just like, 'No, no, no, hit Khaled and get the whole instrumental,' so he could spit the whole verse."
  • DJ Khaled closed out the Grammy Awards in 2023 with a performance of "God Did" where he was joined by Rick Ross, Fridayy, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Jay-Z. Khaled was up for six awards but didn't win any.
  • Inspired by Khaled's "God Did" mantra, which he shared on social media in anticipation of his album, Fridayy spontaneously crafted a hook. "I just made it off faith. No beat was there, it was just me and the piano," Fridayy told Billboard.

    Khaled eventually came across the hook through mutual connections, ultimately deciding to incorporate it into this track.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders

Chrissie Hynde of The PretendersSongwriter Interviews

The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song.

Intentionally Atrocious

Intentionally AtrociousSong Writing

A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.

Boz Scaggs

Boz ScaggsSongwriter Interviews

The "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" singer makes a habit of playing with the best in the business.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?