DJ Khaled rose to prominence as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz. DJ Khaled’s dedication to meeting deadlines is what has propelled him to this point of success. It was recently revealed that Khaled nearly broke into Bryson Tiller’s house because of their collaboration with Rihanna.
Khaled has admitted that he nearly broke into Bryson Tiller’s house because of their Rihanna collaboration. During a recent Drink Champs appearance, the producer told N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN that he was prepared to go to extreme lengths to finish “Wild Thoughts” as the deadline for his Grateful album neared in 2017. Tiller and Khaled originally recorded the song together, but when Rihanna jumped on it and changed the pitch, Tiller had to retake his vocals.
“So I called Bryson Tiller like, ‘Yo, good news. The RiRi vocals are in. Great news.’ I go to Bryson Tiller’s house in L.A., I play him the record, we all excited, ‘I need you to cut your vocals up because now the music’s pitched up, so you gotta cut your vocals up.’ Even me, I had to change my sh*t. He said, ‘No problem.’ I leave.”
With the time running on Grateful, Bryson Tiller stopped responding to DJ Khaled, so he took matters into his own hands and showed up at his residence. “He’s not picking up his phone,” Khaled said. DJ Khaled also spoke more about Bryson Tiller’s star power at the time and how he knew in his gut that “Wild Thoughts” was going to be a hit.
“You know, Bryson’s my brother. He had a surprise album coming out at the same time so he’s not picking up my phone. I need this done.”
“I got f*cking Rihanna vocals, one of the biggest records of my career. He’s not picking up the phone. I jump in my car, I drive to his house. He has a gate. I’m flashing my lights, honking my horn, sending texts, nobody’s replying.”
“You think I’m playing with this sh*t? One thing about me, anybody know me, I don’t play no games. Eventually, shout out to Rich the Barber, he comes outside, Bryson comes out, they open the gate. I was already climbing the gate. You think I’m playing? Ask them, call them. Call them, get their version. It might be more intense.”
“They come outside, I say, ‘Yo bro, I need the record, I need you to cut your vocals. I gotta drop this record next week.’ He did it, he was excited to do it. I was just confused, meaning as in, can you pick up your phone? Even Rich the Barber, that’s my brother. They were dropping a surprise album.”
“He’s still special, he’s still incredible. But at that time, it was like the rise of a new star, but very f*cking potent. Like his shows, Rihanna went to his show, Justin Bieber went to his show, stars were coming out to his show. You know, it’s what I do, I knew that energy. I was a fan, I’m still a fan, we make music to this day.”
“It’s a special story because I knew how big the record was before it even came out, and when my gut tells me something, it’s like the holy grail. If I tell you my gut telling me something, just know we’re gonna win big. So ‘Wild Thoughts,’ shout-out to Rihanna, Bryson Tiller and PARTYNEXTDOOR. One of my biggest records, one of my favorite records, and a very special story behind it.”
“Wild Thoughts,” produced by Nasty Beatmakers and Kuk Harrell, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, with the music video garnering over a billion views on YouTube. So, it was all worthwhile in the end. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.
Do you relate to Khaled’s desperation to meet deadlines? Let us know in the comments!