Navigating a DJ Khaled album can be difficult to do. Although his latest project, Kiss The Ring, is the sixth in his catalog and it’s clear that he’s established a formula for putting his work together, it’s still hard to figure out exactly what you have to listen to on one of the Miami producer’s albums. There are always one or two surefire hits. But, the rest of the album is usually chock full of posse cuts with a laundry list of rappers trying to outdo one another to different degrees of success. It can get quite confusing.
Kiss the Ring follows Khaled’s usual format. From the album’s lead single, “Take It to the Head,” featuring Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Lil Wayne, to the surprisingly deep “Hip Hop,” featuring Scarface, Nas, and DJ Premier, there are a lot of verses crammed into the 12 songs on the album (including one from Khaled on the album’s last song!). So, what do you absolutely have to hear on it? Well, to make things a little easier on you, we’ve put together a list of The 5 Best Verses On DJ Khaled’s Kiss the Ring Album. When you’re bumping the project, make sure you don’t miss these.
#5
Artist: 2 Chainz
Song: “I Don’t See ‘Em,” featuring Birdman and Ace Hood
Sample Line: “You don’t f— with us, we don’t really f— with y’all/Stunna bought some yachts, we in the ocean playin’ bumper cars”
Even though we’ve gotten our fill of Tity Boi over the course of the last couple of weeks, he still manages to shine bright here with some braggadocios bars that rival everything Birdman says on his verse.
#4
Artist: Rick Ross
Song: “I Did It For My Dawgz,” featuring French Montana, Meek Mill, and Jadakiss
Sample Line: “Everybody goin’ broke, keep it real, you gotta fight it/100 kilos in the Beamer, boy, don’t make me get excited”
On a song that would have sounded right at home on Maybach Music Group’s Self Made, Vol. 2, Ross kicks one of the three solid verses of his that appear on the album (he’s also on “Take It to the Head” and “I Wish You Would”).
#3
Artist: Kanye West
Song: “I Wish You Would,” featuring Rick Ross
Sample Line: “The block is at war, post-traumatic stress/Ran up out of pills, robbed that CVS”
Remember when we were all wondering where this track would land? Well, it finally landed on Khaled’s album and it still goes just as hard as it did when we first heard it. Kanye’s got plenty of energy to spare on this one over Hit-Boy’s frenetic production.
#2
Artist: J. Cole
Song: “They Ready,” featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Kendrick Lamar
Sample Line: “Oh, that’s your dream car? N—a, That’s my old whip/Oh, that’s your dream girl? N—-, that’s my old b—-“
You could make an argument that this is the best song on Kiss the Ring and that all three of the artists on it could have had verses featured on this list (although, we’d wait to see what’s No. 1 before we crown it the “best”). But, we’ll pick Cole’s simply because he got to go first on the song. Don’t discount the other two rappers, though. They drop gems, too.
#1
Artist: Scarface/Nas
Song: “Hip Hop,” featuring DJ Premier
Sample Line: “I realized some things never change/Once you’re in love and it’s gone, you don’t look at it the same” (Scarface)/”She’s a middle-aged cougar, showin’ youngins the dream/Noticed she wasn’t breathing for a second, then I screamed/’She’s dead!'” (Nas)
Okay, okay, so technically this is two verses. But, we couldn’t pick which one we liked more, so you’ll have to sit through the entire 4 minutes and 23 seconds. Trust us: It’s worth it. DJ Khaled might follow his usual formula on this album. But, we guarantee that you haven’t heard anything like this before son one of his projects.