Grateful (DJ Khaled album)

Grateful is the tenth studio album by American hip hop producer DJ Khaled, released as a double album on June 23, 2017 by We the Best Music Group and Epic Records. The album features guest appearances from a wide array of artists including Future, Travis Scott, Rick Ross, Migos and Quavo, Chance the Rapper, Nicki Minaj, Kodak Black, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Drake, Rihanna, Sizzla, Mavado, Nas, Calvin Harris, PartyNextDoor, Jeremih, Pusha T and Betty Wright, among others.
Background.
The cover art was released alongside the album's third single on June 5, 2017, and featured Khaled's son Asahd, who was born in October 2016. Asahd was also revealed to be acting as the album's executive producer, with his father taking to talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in March 2017 to explain the reasoning and process behind his son's position on the album, stating:
He is credited as executive producer, and his attorney has his points and royalties, everything. Listening to the songs, going over the business part of it, [deciding] if the vocals are right, if the beats are right, if the energy's right. When he [rocks and grins], those are smash hit records, when he [looks deep in thought], that's the real serious records but hits with substance. It's a vibe, you know what I mean? Believe it or not, the poops and the throw-ups are super blessings. Those are actually the real good ones. He actually threw up on me while I was mixing and working on "Shining", and when he threw up on me, that [was] a blessing.
Recording and production.
The album also saw production from an array of producers, including several in-house producers from Khaled's We the Best Music Group record label. Cool &amp; Dre and Nasty Beatmakers co-produced two of the album's singles, which were heavily influenced by the musical styles present in Miami. The former also contributed toward three additional songs on the album, teaming up with 808-Ray for each effort. Other in-house producers Danja and Lee on the Beats additionally provided production, with Khaled enlisting the duo on several occasions prior for his previous albums. Khaled later worked with Scottish producer and disc jockey Calvin Harris, who also received a co-artist credit for "Don't Quit". The album was also comprised by several other record producers such as Nic Nac, Ben Billions, DannyBoyStyles, The Beat Bully, Schife, StreetRunner and Tarik Azzouz, among others.
Singles.
The album's lead single, "Shining", was released on February 12, 2017. It features guest vocals from American singer Beyoncé, and American rapper Jay-Z, with production by Khaled himself, and Danja; as well as it was also co-written by Canadian singer PartyNextDoor. It premiered following the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, peaking at number 57 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.
"I'm the One" was released as the album's second single on April 28, 2017. The song features guest appearances from Canadian singer Justin Bieber, alongside American rappers Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne. It also saw production from Khaled himself, as well as being co-produced by Nic Nac. "I'm the One" debuted at number one, becoming Khaled's first number one single on the US "Billboard" Hot 100; as well as also topping the charts in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
"Wild Thoughts" was released as the album's third single on June 16, 2017. The song features guest appearances from Barbadian singer Rihanna, and American singer Bryson Tiller, with production by Khaled himself, and Nasty Beatmakers as well as it was also co-written by Canadian singer PartyNextDoor. Khaled has previously collaborated with Tiller on "Major Key", however, the single marks his first collaboration with Rihanna. Khaled described his attempts to court Rihanna for a feature appearance on an album for several years in an interview with "Entertainment Weekly", stating "seven, eight years I've been trying to do this. I always put the kites out there that I wanted to work with her [and] I was always getting the right record ready [to] see if something comes back that's possible." The single housed elements of Latin pop and contemporary R&amp;B, debuting at number four on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, peaking at number two.
Promotional singles.
The promotional single from the album, "To the Max", was released on June 5, 2017. The single features guest appearances from Canadian rapper Drake, with production by Khaled himself and JayO. The song marked the fifth collaboration between the pair, and contained sampling from an array of musical genres, including bassline and alternative rock. "To the Max" peaked at number 53 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.
Critical reception.
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, "Grateful" received an average score of 61, based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.
Commercial performance.
"Grateful" is Khaled's highest career first week sales to date. It debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200, with 149,000 album-equivalent units, of which 50,000 were pure album sales. It is DJ Khaled's second number-one album on the chart. On July 14, 2017, "Grateful" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States. On August 23, 2017, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 1,000,000 domestic units. January 23, 2022, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 2,000,000 domestic units, making it DJ Khaled's best-selling album.
Track listing.
Credits adapted from Tidal.
Notes
Sample credits
Personnel.
Credits adapted from the liner notes of "Grateful".
※() is the track list of the album from CD.