DJ Khaled Tells the Story of How He Got Jay Z and Beyonce on “Shining”
While DJ Khaled may have his new track, "I'm One," dropping tomorrow (the lead single off of his forthcoming album, Grateful), "Shining" is still receiving plenty of love from his fans and music critics. Released on the eve of the 2017 Grammy Awards, "Shining" features the Miami DJ pairing up with hip-hop mogul Jay Z and his wife Beyonce over the production of Danja and Khaled himself.
During Khaled's recent XXL cover shoot, the We The Best head honcho discussed the making of his lead single and how he ended up getting Jay and Bey on the track. When he played the "Shining" instrumental for Jay for the first time, he was a bit hesitant because they had just worked on the single "I Got the Keys." However, Khaled knew he had a major hit on his hands with the beat, and eventually played it for Jay.
“I’m like, 'Let me play it for you,' and the first 20, 30 seconds he was bopping his head and I seen him already rhyming in his head," says Khaled of the moment.
After playing the record for Jay, DJ Khaled goes on to tell XXL how he brought up Beyonce's name for the potential feature. “After I played him the record I was like, 'Yo, I know the answer is no, but if you want to play this for your wife…man, that would be dope! But I know the answer is no,'" he explains.
A few months later, at Roc Nation's Christmas party in 2016, Khaled recalls Beyonce walking up to him and telling him how much she liked the record, which gave the DJ some hope regarding the release of the potential collaboration both with Jay and Bey. While nothing was confirmed at the time, the DJ remembers Jay Z hitting him up a day before the 2017 Grammy Awards to tell him the "Shining" record was done. “What happened was, the night before the Grammys, Jay Z hit me up and said, 'Record done,' you know what? I’m saying meanwhile I’m wondering whether they even gonna record it.”
DJ Khaled eventually premiered the hit anthem, "Shining," with Jay and Beyonce the night of the Grammys, and the rest is history, as the track has cracked the Billboard Hot 100, and remains one of the most streamed songs of the year. Check out Khaled explaining the making of the record above.
In related DJ Khaled news, check out the Miami DJ's XXL cover story for the magazine's Spring 2017 here.
See 40 Hip-Hop Albums Turning 20 in 2017