DJ Khaled‘s new album, God Did, has hip-hop heads talking. One of the highlights of the album is its title track, on which Jay-Z raps for four straight minutes.
On a particular line, Jay recalls acquiring billionaire status, and how some of his collaborators quickly received the coveted title after.
“Nobody touched a billi until Hov did,” Jay raps. “How many billionaires can come from Hov crib? I count three / Me, Ye, and Rih / ‘Bron’s a Roc boy, so four technically.”
Jay was crowned hip-hop’s first billionaire in 2019, largely due to his extensive catalog, as well as his investments into companies like D’usse. Kanye West officially became a billionaire about a year later, largely in part to his Yeezy fashion collection. The following year, Rihanna became a billionaire, thanks to her Fenty Beauty line, as well as her Savage X Fenty lingerie and underwear collection. Lebron James acquired billionaire status this past June, thanks to his nearly two-decade spanning basketball career, as well as partnerships with brands like AT&T and Nike.
It seems that this billionaire status was manifested 17 years ago, when Jay, West, and James covered the August 2005 issue of XXL. Next to them was Foxy Brown, as Rihanna had only just stepped onto the scene with her debut single, “Pon De Replay,” that summer.
Music journalist Elliott Wilson shared an image of the cover on Instagram today.
Shortly after, he shared an image of a fan-made cover with Rihanna’s face photoshopped over Brown’s.
Check out “God Did” above.
God Did is out now via We The Best and Epic Records. Stream it here.