This Friday, the big question is will you be listening to DJ Khaled’s ninth studio album, ‘Major Key’? The answer is probably not.
DJ Khaled releases his next album ‘Major Key’ Friday. The LP will be his ninth studio album and follow up to 2015’s ‘I Changed A lot.’ ‘For Free’ featuring Drake is the first single off ‘Major Key.’ ‘I Got The Keys’ featuring Jay Z & Future and ‘Holy Key’ featuring Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar and Betty Wright further advance DJ Khaled’s life or death album. A musical icon, DJ Khaled’s ‘I Changed A Lot’ flopped. The album moved 10K units in its first week. Comparably Drake’s 2016 ‘Views’ and J. Cole’s 2014 ‘Forest Hills Drive’ album both went platinum in one week. Furthermore, G-Eazy’s ‘When It’s Dark Out’ and Logic’s ‘The Incredible True Story’ moved 90,000+ and 70,000+ albums, respectively. Adele and Taylor Swift both went multi-platinum even though their last albums were exclusive releases. Adele removed ‘25’ from all streaming services until recently. Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ and all her music is unavailable on Spotify. In this transition period where streaming has become millennial’s preferred medium, we are getting to listen to more music than ever before. Although physical album sales might’ve taken a hit we’ve still got our headphones playing something whether we’re walking to class, commuting to work, working out or partying. This Friday, the big question is will you be listening to DJ Khaled? The answer is probably not.
Since I’m predicting ‘Major Key’ flops and maybe less painfully than ‘I Changed A Lot’ then I’m sure you’re wondering why you should care. You should care because DJ Khaled is a Snapchat celebrity. Snapchat is how brands reach us millennials and DJ Khaled is not just simply one of its 100 million daily users. DJ Khaled exploded on the platform when other publications dubbed him as a ‘Snapchat account You Need To Follow.’ DJ Khaled’s Snapchat is entertaining and often inspirational, but his thirst for maintaining his celebrity status costs him innovative music that we need.
Millennials hate being marketed to. Besides the NFL on Sundays or NBA playoffs we DVR everything or stream it on Netflix. No one’s watching these commercials on TV. We’re opting out of Soundcloud and YouTube for ad-free streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify and TIDAL. If DJ Khaled’s Snapchat is basically a never ending commercial about why you should or shouldn’t pay for his music, then is anyone really listening to his music anymore? Does his massive Snapchat following even buy music or do they just wait for the leak?
Because albums release on Friday, they don’t leak anymore. We like to try things before we buy it. Thus far, DJ Khaled has one song in the US’s top 50 charts on Spotify’s through the strength of Drake. Everything with Drake’s name on it soars up charts these days.
And Spotify has 70 million users compared to Apple Music and Tidal. Mostly free users on its ad based, desktop only option. You have to buy the monthly subscription to stream it without ads and would anyone ever go that route just for DJ Khaled?
‘Major Key,’ which comes out in 5 days is number 1 on Apple Music. But with over 30 million songs available anytime, anywhere who’s actually buying the ‘Major Key’ album with their money?
I think that streaming services puts consumers in control. Yes, the radio might be the biggest distribution platform because it’s free. But we buy music based on authenticity. We are looking for music that we can share with our friends. Most importantly, we want something innovative.
DJ Khaled looks cool on Snapchat parading through Miami and different cities with a phone in hands. But anyone with a smart phone, data plan and money to blow can do that also. DJ Khaled has success in the past, but at 40 years old his Snapchat account made him lose touch with what we are really going to buy. What does sell is free like his latest hit single ‘For Free.’
Mixtape style albums don’t sell. That’s might just be how it is because they seem randomly curated. But if it’s not selling and it’s not free, then are people really listening to him. I don’t think so because DJ Khaled has made the same album 9 times in a row. There’s nothing forward thinking about ‘Major Key’ because he’s only using artists that already over-saturate us with music anyway. And sometime their music is free, which is affordable for everyone.
For example, Chance The Rapper’s ‘Coloring Book’ is an Apple Music exclusive. But everywhere else it’s free. You can get ‘Coloring Book’ officially on Soundcloud or YouTube. Chance The Rapper is one of the world’s biggest artists. Logic put out ‘Bobby Tarantino’ as an exclusive album. That’s streaming entirely on Soundcloud too and he’s bigger than ever. Travis Scott, Future, Drake put out free music all the time and if there’s something I’ve learned about real art is that its scarcity creates timeless value. Is there anything timeless about DJ Khaled’s music when he’s on Snapchat all day?
All in all, DJ Khaled is 40 years old now. He has had a successful career himself by launching careers of other newer artists. But there’s nothing that’s new about ‘Major Key’ except DJ Khaled using a new platform to get the word out. We all see his stories on the feed but this album’s release is a major test for brands, marketers and social influencers. Friday we’re going to find out if followers on Snapchat are really listening to DJ Khaled and buying his sales pitch or is it just something cool that we could use to flex our fleeting fame to other’s that want the same thing. It should always be about the music.
Pre-Order on iTunes: DJ Khaled – Major Key (Album)
Major Key Tracklisting:
1. “I Got the Keys” (feat. JAY Z & Future)
2. “For Free” (feat. Drake)
3. “Nas Album Done” (feat. Nas)
4. “Holy Key” (feat. Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar & Betty Wright)
5. “Jermaine’s Interlude” (feat. J. Cole)
6. “Ima Be Alright” (feat. Bryson Tiller & Future)
7. “Do You Mind” (feat. Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, August Alsina, Jeremih, Future & Rick Ross)
8. “Pick These Hoes Apart” (feat. Kodak Black, Jeezy & French Montana)
9. “F**k Up the Club” (feat. Future, Rick Ross, YG & Yo Gotti)
10. “Work for It” (feat. Big Sean, Gucci Mane & 2 Chainz)
11. “Don’t Ever Play Yourself” (feat. Jadakiss, Fabolous, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes & Kent Jones)
12. “Tourist” (feat. Travis Scott & Lil Wayne)
13. “Forgive Me Father” (feat. Meghan Trainor, Wiz Khalifa & Wale)
14. “Progress” – Mavado
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