DJ Khaled Talks About Working With Nipsey Hussle On "Higher": "He's A Prophet"
The Father of Asahd takeover is real as DJ Khaled has steadily released visuals to promote singles from the feature-heavy project he released Friday. Khaled is the king of hype, so he took over MTV's New York studio for his "Khaled-Con" special hosted by Sway Calloway. During the special, Sway and Khaled would take moments to talk about each of the music videos that the producer released for the record. When they got to "Higher" featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend, Khaled opened up about his friendship and collaboration with the slain rapper.
Khaled shared that before they recorded "Higher," he invited Nipsey to his home in Miami where they talked about an array of topics. "We were talking about our kids and family and then he told me what his name meant. We're having this type of conversation and I told him what my name means. Then we talked about our kids' names, my son's name. Then we started talking about property, then we started talking about entrepreneurship and leadership and just really just talking real life. When he would speak, I would be like [speechless]. It amazes me because he's such a beautiful person, beautiful soul...beautiful energy. He just got so much love. He's always looking out, just showing pure love and I love that."
The producer said that after the conversation was over the two of them were walking toward his studio and he was so touched by their dialogue that he advised Nipsey to put that into a song. "I was sharing how Nas and Jay-Z and Pac and Biggie and Scarface and like a [Rick] Ross would talk about their life and where they come from," he said. "You feel it and you hear it from the icon rappers."
"I played him the album because I explained to him that my album, every song I'm treating like it's the one," he said. "That's the only way to make a classic album...I played him the beat I wanted him on and he was vibing to the beat. I [saw] him taking it in and I told him, 'Your voice will cut through this sample amazingly, it's like gospel,' and I told him I had a hook idea and he said, 'Don't play the hook yet' and already when he said that I thought, 'Oh he's special'...He was already writing in his head."
Fans who have watched the music video for "Higher" have expressed that the emotional visual brought them to tears, and Khaled claims he's been moved, as well. "He's a prophet, he's a king, he's a father, he's beautiful. When I watch the video, I've cried so many times already. When people play the video, they cry and have the same reaction, it's so beautiful. The marathon continues and long live Nipsey Hussle. It was a blessing for me to work with him. I thank God that I got to work with him and for his fans to hear the music."