On the latest episode of “Drink Champs,” Grammy award-winning producer DJ Khaled recalls nearly breaking into Bryson Tiller’s house in order to get a verse for his 2017 hit single “Wild Thoughts.”
“I’m calling Bryson, my album come out in like in two weeks,” DJ Khaled said. “‘Yo bro, I need you need to cut the vocals over. You know that Rihanna’s vocals is in, you hear that, right? Everybody’s excited.’ He’s not picking up his phone. I need this done. I got fuckin’ Rihanna vocals. The biggest record of my—one of my biggest records in my career. He not picking up the phone.”
DJ Khaled then decided to hop in his car and drive to the singer’s house and did everything in his power to get the singer’s attention. “He has a gate. I’m flashing my lights, honking my horns, sending texts. Nobody’s replying,” he continued. “You think I’m playing with this shit? 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,” he continued, prompting more laughter. “You think I’m playing? Ask them. Call them. Get their version, it might be more intense.”
Tiller obviously ended up coming through with his verse, but DJ Khaled was still confused as to why he wasn’t returning any of his calls. It wasn’t until later when he learned that Tiller was busy working on his album True to Self. “Wild Thoughts” ended up hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Tiller’s first top-10 entry. DJ Khaled also mentions how Rihanna had a huge impact on how the track turned out. “Riri jumped on it—thank God. Dream come true,” DJ Khaled said. “Riri loved the record. We got a hit. I’ll never forget, Riri changed the pitch of the record. She changed the pitch to make it her [own]. When you’re a great artist you make records your own. And she’s an icon, she’s a great artist, so she she put her passion to it and pitched the record up, which was genius.”
DJ Khaled’s “Drink Champs” interview comes ahead of his highly anticipated 13th studio album GOD DID, which is set to be released on Friday, Aug. 26. Check out the full interview below: