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We Global

by

DJ Khaled

 
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We Global
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Avg: 3.5 (221 ratings)

Bruckheimer rap — the perfect soundtrack for escaping state police via speedboat.

  • We Say...

    Review by Jayson Greene

    DJ Khaled manages exactly one salient point on the succinctly titled We Global (somehow economizing even further on 2007's already concise We The Best): "The industry hate, but they gotta see me/ Turn your TVs on, bet you all you see is me!" Indeed. Despite being a non-rapping, roly-poly Pakistanian immigrant who seems to be a "DJ" in the same sense Brutus the "Beefcake" was a "barber," Khaled has somehow made himself ubiquitous on rap radio and what is left of the "music" portions of MTV and BET. It's unclear what Khaled does, exactly; he doesn't produce the tracks on the albums that bear his name, nor, apart from his few lines on the intro, does he rap on them: instead, the songs are filled with verses from Hot 97 mainstays like Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Plies, Lil Boosie and others. Khaled's role seems mostly to be general awesomeness-reaffirmer: whenever the point might be in doubt, he helpfully reminds everyone that what you are hearing is, in fact, awesome.

    And it truthfully is, in at least a few senses of the word. First of all, these tracks are BIG. Like, absurdly huge, pumped so full of declaiming trumpets, screaming synthesizers and capital-letters choruses that they turn the rappers on them into a phalanx of super-heroes swooping in to save the city. The "Khaled aesthetic," as he has carefully delineated it, is that of a burning helicopter crashing into a speeding train that is also on fire which then slams into an army base full of explosives: in his devotion to excess, Khaled makes Michael Bay look like a humble miniaturist. You know how five-year-old boys will sing little songs to themselves while they play with their action figures? Every song on We Global sounds like what that kid hears in his head. The adrenaline rush is relentless, and undeniable.

    Not to mention that these tracks tend to get the mid-level rappers on them very amped up, resulting in several headknock-worthy moments. Fabolous sounds as nimble and sly as he has in years slinging passable come-ons and corny jokes on "Go Ahead"; Busta Rhymes curls your hair with one of his trademark dirty-old-man verses on "She's Fine"; and the Game flashes more of his knucklehead charisma on, err, "Game" than he did at any point on his recent record. ("Young black entrepreneur like Cosby and his Jell-O?" That's the kind of headscratcher I've come to expect from you, Game!) You don't go to see Transformers for insight into life and love, and you don't put We Global on when you're feeling contemplative. But if you plan to spend any time on a treadmill in the next month, this album needs to accompany you.

  • They Say...

    Review by David Jeffries, All Music Guide

    Getting back on track, DJ Khaled's We Global corrects all the mistakes made on his disappointing sophomore effort We the Best and gets back to the high-quality control of his debut Listennn: The Album. Like both previous releases, We Global finds the Terror Squad DJ commissioning tracks from the A-List, adding his shout-outs over top, and handing production over to the likes of Cool & Dre, the Inkredibles, and Danja along with a handful of cuts for the underappreciated team, the Runners who can go convincingly hard (the street single "Out Here Grindin'") or brilliantly slick (the R&B-flavored, Lloyd showcase "Go Ahead"). Important names like the Game -- who's focused like a sniper on the great "Red Light" -- and Nas -- who sounds absolutely Illmatic on his hectic cut "I'm On" -- get their own tracks, but most cuts are either giant baller anthems with freestyle after freestyle or more interesting and tighter collaborations, like the good timing "She's Fine" from Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, and dancehall don Sean Paul. Khaled's love of the warmer territories is further supported by Floridian Rick Ross' appearance next to another reggae man, Baby Cham, plus the expected guest shot from Pitbull who closes the album with a Dade County hip-hop history lesson. Khaled's lone production here is "Standing on the Mountain Top," a theatrical showcase for newcomer and protégé Ace Hood who lands on three more cuts and nails each and every one with his fresh-off-the-streets delivery.

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