Review Summary: Major 🔑 alert!
Trends are one thing and a "major key" in curating and advancing one's career in entertainment, but what former Terror Squad member DJ Khaled has done with it has only innovated it's cause and reinforce its importance. He didn't need to in the first place, he was already well off with the infinitesimal collaborations and albums he infused and dug up his sleeve in the last ten years as the most pimped up producer in music. Thanks however to the advancement of technology and most importantly it's greatest achievement to the young generational savages of today, social media, it's only boosted and catapulted his standing to becoming one of music's ultra mainstays. Sure, social media has taken the majority of music's finest to the top, but in Khaled's case with the popular photo-and-self destruct app Snapchat, with his iconic quotes and his lavish getaways, it's refurbished his entire career in the last two years to making him more recognized than just being the guy shouting in the beginning of every song he's involved with, "DJ KHALED!". That pulverizing change has done due diligence, most recently taking him to being the opener for polarizing icon Beyoncé and blowing up rapper Kent Jones, and that's exactly what he conveys and portrays in his luxurious, richly return to the top with "Major Key". That he found himself the door to absolute power in his field, it's just that he needed to unlock it, and man did he unravel himself a star-studded boatload of enjoyment with it. Not only that, but he's also opening it up for you to know what's the secret to his success so you can have it large too.
When you're an flourishing artist that pumps up nearly the majority of hip-hop's elite for a historic, star-flooded music video, you are absolutely certain you're gonna be immersed into a golden world of luxury and bling, and in "Major Key", the pouring of it all comes out to a immensely euphoric reception. That's portrayed in killer fashion in the mafia-risqué, glitzy success anthem "I Got The Keys" with rap icon Jay-Z and one of the current rap mainstays in Future at the helm. Brimming underneath a sparkling, kaleidoscopic trap beat and bristling, deep bass invigorating its menacing, fancy atmosphere, it serves as the epitome of the luxury and possession that Khaled proclaims and has to his name. It definitely helps when you got the absolute definition of a mafia-esque rapper in hand with Jay-Z to convey such for you, delivering damning yet reflective lyricism of his continuous winning like "big pimpin' on your court steps/case y'all ain't notice, I ain't lost yet", and Future, whose intimidating yet impressive hooks continue to send chills as it does once again. It's given the platinum touch it certainly needs when Khaled goes off on his usual tirade in the beginning and end, alarming all those dare insult and polarize him, "I got the keys!/I got the keys to all success!" as a daring testament to what he and his fellow veteran conglomerate has pillared upon the mountain of achievement they've peaked to. It peaks to a heavenly setting in the glowing, sexy "Do You Mind" with the sexual music masters on front-load; Rick Ross, Chris Brown, August Alsina, Nicki Minaj, and Future again taking charge. Filtered underneath a beautifully rendered piano designation and heavy sampling of Lil' Jon's R&B hit "Lovers And Friends", its as deep of a sex jam as it's ever gotten to for Khaled's taste. Being literally on cloud nine right now, there's nothing that can shy from the fact right now that Khaled is perched in his own musical paradise, as is depicted on the shimmering, fantastical album art that portrays him right there in appeasement. He's enjoying the success, he's spending the cash, and he isn't afraid to show it and shove it in your face either. That's because it's also motivating you in the hopes you'll get to that ascending throne, because it's possible for you also.
A gauging and diverse journey of all sorts, DJ Khaled's summery excursion sends you across banger after banger, left free to motivate and enjoy the finer things in life, while also getting you prepared for what's coming next. You're also treated to a diverse display of the feelings and thoughts of what they see the world today as, but that conceptive direction also calls for inconsistency also. That daunting anticipation began immediately in the hyped-up, bass-laced "Nas Album Done" featuring the Queensbridge legend Nas himself, and it's obvious why it became importantly exciting in the first place. It's signifying the mere fact that, to the satisfaction and hurrahs of the music world, that we are finally getting a new set of material from him for the first time later in 2016. Designed and built with enticing lyricism like "now everywhere i see is Pablo, Esco" or "now everybody has an Escobar Season" (an indirect diss of Kanye's TLOP and those who took the rich persona in which Nas founded), Nas reminds everyone that no matter the fact he's also a corporate mogul himself as the commander of Mass Appeal Records, that he also hasn't fallen off the musical cliff yet either. As Khaled states in one of Nas' best excursions in a very long time, "classic sh*t, timeless, forever, iconic", an ode to the legacy and impact that his fellow friend has contributed and still impacts. It's also eloquently connecting to the belief of what Khaled himself sees himself and his music being forever known as, and while he may be just a bit off on that, that realization may not be so wrong either considering his vitality amongst the social atmosphere. It's once again vented in the gauging, elegant "Jermaine's Interlude" featuring J. Cole, as he's taking his feelings out on the state of the industry and how he doesn't want any artists tasting success right now to fall into the hellhole he fell into artistically, i.e "selling out". One interesting note from J. Cole's short tenure in this however, even throws in a very intriguing, yet alarming feel that he yells out to top off the synth-infused, sunbathed warning with "said all that I could say/now I'm playing with thoughts of retirement". It's great and surprising, yet with this kind of track, it creates an inconsistency because Khaled isn't exactly known for delivering mostly of a cliquey but enjoyable bangers and then pair together with deep, lyrically rich content that is great but seems out of place with his sparkling concept. Call it a surprise of the sorts in this all-star feasting delivered to your doorstep.
Money, love, possessions is power, and power is once again those very same things, and that's the ultimate definition in which comes away at the end of Khaled's extra-large offering "Major Key". Not only that, but that achieving all of this power can be yours too for the taking, because it isn't just limited to himself or his entertainment entourage: it's also possible for you, the ordinary individual. Thanks to the all-star cast that acts in his exclusive behalf, delivering in easily their finest lyrical content to date, it's revitalized Khaled to bring once again more recognized beyond his inspirational Snapchat speeches and party jams that he delivers in sheer abundance. It's also given true meaning to what something such as the social trend he did can really vitalize musically. Sure, it's definitely a summery, musically partying excursion for sure, but it's even further validated with advancing it's luxurious and powerful premise by the strong lyricism supplied with it. Even if it could create a weird inconsistency with what you've seen prior, Khaled's previous endeavors have lacked that insight and perspective before, but no more does it at all. It only took him a minuscule year to go from "I Changed A Lot" to finding that key to rediscovering himself that he's been searching for, and now look at where he is now. He's secured it! He's found the key to success! Now he wants you to have it just as much as he did, to "secure your bag" and find your "major key" to power that you've been looking to find. It's all yours for the taking, just like it was for Khaled. Take it while you can.
