Fat Joe crowns DJ Khaled the ‘Quincy Jones of hip-hop,’ and the internet has thoughts
During an appearance on the Drink Champs podcast, Fat Joe gave DJ Khaled his flowers for consistently dropping hit records with the biggest names in hip-hop
Fat Joe became a trending topic after the Bronx rapper praised DJ Khaled for his musical success and concluded that he’s the “Quincy Jones of hip-hop.”
During an appearance on the Drink Champs podcast hosted by N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, Fat Joe gave Khaled his flowers for consistently dropping hit records with the biggest names in hip-hop.
“People take away the greatness from Khaled and they say, ‘Well he just gets a bunch of big-time rappers and puts them on the same song,’” said Joe. “There’s a million DJs and producers that try that, and those ain’t hit records. And it’s been a long time since we heard Nas and JAY-Z on what to me sounds like a smash hit, like a SMASH hit, that can play on the radio, it’s streaming incredibly. So DJ Khaled really is the Quincy Jones of hip-hop right now.”
Fat Joe’s christening of DJ Khaled, while kind, was not exactly well-received by the public. Some Internet comments disagreed with the rapper’s comparing of Khaled to the 28 Grammy Award-winning music legend. Jones, has produced, wrote and composed a litany of hits including Michael Jackson‘s Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad studio albums.
While DJ Khaled’s chart success as an artist/producer doesn’t match that of the iconic Quincy Jones, he does hold one Grammy Award for “Higher” featuring John Legend and the late Nipsey Hussle, a number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (“I’m The One” feat. Justin Bieber) and several other Hot 100 hits.
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“Bro the whole album is (sic) used samples of mostly classic songs. That’s not creativity,” wrote one commenter on Instagram, apparently referring to DJ Khaled’s latest album, Khaled Khaled, which features big artists like JAY-Z, Nas, Lil’ Wayne, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Drake and several others.
“Quincy is an actual musician not a curator,” wrote another person. “Fat Joe is in time out for this statement,” tweeted HuffPost editor Philip Lewis.
“I understand folk upset at @FatJoe calling DJ Khaled the “Quincy Jones” of Hip-Hop — the Kirk Franklin of Hip-Hop works better for me — but who else then is the impresario that brings diverse talents together in Hip-Hop as Q did for Soul, Jazz, Gospel, Blues and even Hip-Hop?” wrote Mark Anthony Neal whose Twitter handle is @NewBlackMan.
After apparently reading some of the reactions from his critics on a post on N.O.R.E.’s Instagram page, Fat Joe slid into the comments section to defend his position.
“All these back seat drivers Monday morning quarterbacks always got an opinion but can’t do it themselves shit crazy to me the term Quincy jones of this time was used in reference to the work khaled has put in years and years of hit obviously there’s only one Quincy but fuck it tune in tonight EXPLOSIVE lol,” he wrote.
Debate aside, Fat Joe knows a thing or two about making a hit record. The New York rap veteran’s song “Lean Back” featuring fellow Bronx rapper Remy Ma topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2004 and his record “What’s Luv?” featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule peaked at number 8.
Fat Joe’s most recent hit, “All The Way Up?” saw him reunite with Remy Ma in 2016. The double-platinum record, which also featured French Montana, peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was Grammy-nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
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