Video: DJ Khaled ft. Nas, JAY-Z & James Fauntleroy and Harmonies by The Hive – Sorry Not Sorry

The rapper Nas opens with the lines “Here ye, here ye, only kings stand near me, Silicon Valley money mixed with Henny, that’s a Fendi…” as the lush musical soundwaves of piano keys splash against his vocals in the mega single “Sorry Not Sorry” by DJ Khaled, which also features the billion-dollar don JAY-Z. What prompted this historic marriage between two of the biggest names in rap and retail? It is for Khaled’s twelfth studio album, titled Khaled Khaled, which was released today (April 30th). Yes, he did make a total of 12 of these songs.

“I’m sorry, but that’s another B, and the haters still haven’t recovered from the last B…”Hey, um, that’s a double B, no, that’s a triple B, and you can’t forget about the other B, (Heeeey, *smooth Beyoncé vocal*)…” rapped JAY-Z as he opened his stanza in a manner quite similar to that of the money marksman. As is his custom, he is addressing the haters and letting them respectfully know that he is not above participating in the fucktardery.

It is a great pleasure to observe the formerly antagonistic artists, who are now close friends, join forces for a verse-for-verse duet that many people will claim is the best of the few official tunes that they have worked on together. This song does not only speak about the tangible and financial prosperity, but also the joys of experiencing life through a sharper lens than they did in their younger days. Both having grown up in public housing projects—Jay in Brooklyn’s Marcy Projects and Nas in Queens’ Queensbridge Houses—they are familiar with the challenges posed by the streets, as well as the competition between talent and the demons that seek to thwart upward growth. I’m glad it was addressed head-on and creatively because the double entendres and metaphors will make your head spin (“…I like who I’ve become, intermittent fasting but these meals/mills I’m not missing none. “).-Hov and Nas with the phrase “A winner in life, fuck a coin toss, I’m Coinbase, basically cryptocurrency Scarface”).

Let’s give a round of applause to the king of collaboration, DJ Khaled, for bringing together one more time the royalty of the rap game, all while having a video that is reminiscent of the Casino film after dark and was directed by the goat visualizer, Hype Williams. There is nothing quite like watching the legends of the game come back out to play, talk their trash, and motivate the masses once again. This here mogul track is really another one for DJ Khaled to add to his collection.

Check out the music video for “Sorry not sorry“.