Sorry Not Sorry
by DJ Khaled (featuring Jay-Z & Nas)

Album: Khaled Khaled (2021)
Charted: 30
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Nas, Jay-Z and Roc Nation singer-songwriter James Fauntleroy team up for an unapologetic track about living the dream. DJ Khaled supplied the languid production along with Tarik Azzouz and StreetRunner.
  • Fauntleroy kicks thing off, crooning the chorus where he celebrates the three artists coming up from nothing. A chill Nas then takes the first verse where he calls himself a "winner in life." He boasts that he's risen from being a street-based drug dealer to living "heavenly in Cabo, with a Mexican sombrero."

    Jay takes the baton on the second verse. Hova's rhymes address his billionaire status and incorporate a shout-out to his wife Beyoncé, who responds in kind with a "hey." Bey's contribution to the track earns her a credit under the name Harmonies By The Hive.
  • Jay Z, and Beyoncé previously collaborated with DJ Khaled for the producer's songs "Shining" and "Top Off."
  • Former rap rivals Jay-Z and Nas teamed up on four occasions prior to this song. After officially ending a long-lasting beef in a football stadium in 2005, they collaborated on:

    Nas' 2006 Hip Hop Is Dead cut "Black Republican."

    Jay-Z's 2007 American Gangster track "Success."

    Ludacris' 2008 Theater of the Mind tune "I Do It for Hip-Hop," on which they both feature.

    Jay-Z's 2013 Magna Carta... Holy Grail number "BBC" which also features Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, and Swizz Beatz.
  • The song samples Jay-Z's The Blueprint cut "Song Cry," which itself is built around Bobby Glenn's 1976 track "Sounds Like a Love Song." It's not the only Khaled Khaled track that takes inspiration from The Blueprint. The record opens with "Thankful," which samples a flute line from "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City," borrowed from Bobby "Blue" Bland's 1974 tune "Heart Of The City."
  • Both Bryson Tiller and Demi Lovato previously recorded songs titled "Sorry Not Sorry" but neither have anything to do with this track.
  • Hype Williams directed the video, which sees Khaled, Jay and Nas, dressed in tuxedoes, living it up in a casino.
  • This is a track from DJ Khaled's 12 studio album, Khaled Khaled, titled after the producer's real name, Khaled Mohamed Khaled. The Miami hitmaker told Billboard's Chelsea Briggs it translates from Arabic to "immortal."

    The producer explained he first had the idea to make an album called Khaled Khaled before he'd cut his first record, 2006's Listennn... the Album. "I figured I had to get past 10 albums," he said. "When you reach double figures, you've climbed the mountain."

Comments: 1

  • Rj from BostonWhy does Khaled say "GOOD Music" in the opening?
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Yacht Rock Quiz

Yacht Rock QuizFact or Fiction

Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.

Butch Vig

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

80s Music Quiz 1

80s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian OrchestraSongwriter Interviews

Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Victoria Williams

Victoria WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

Despite appearances on Carson, Leno and a Pennebaker film, Williams remains a hidden treasure.