''Kiss the Ring '' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American disc jockey and record producer

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...

. It was released under We the Best Music Group,

Terror Squad Entertainment Terror Squad Productions is an American Hip hop and Rap record company founded by Fat Joe in 1997. The label had been distributed by Atlantic, EMI, and Imperial, E1 (formerly Koch). The label's flagship artist was Big Pun. History Early Years ...

Young Money Entertainment Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. Young Money's president is Lil Wayne's lifelong friend and fellow rapper Mack Maine. The label was an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Republi ...

Cash Money Records Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Distributed by Republic, formerly known as Universal Republic, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip h ...

, and

Universal Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an i ...

on August 21, 2012. The album was supported by the singles "

Take It to the Head "Take It to the Head" is a song by American hip hop producer DJ Khaled, released as the lead single from his sixth studio album, '' Kiss the Ring''. The song features American singer Chris Brown, rappers Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Trinidadian Amer ...

" which peaked at number 58 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and " I Wish You Would" which peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s from

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...

Ace Hood Antoine Franklin McColister (born May 11, 1988), better known by his stage name Ace Hood, is an American rapper. He was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was signed to record producer DJ Khaled's label W ...

, Plies,

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

, T.I.,

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

, J. Cole,

Big K.R.I.T. Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he started his musical career in 2005. Af ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. Anderson began his music career in 2007 and gained popularity in 2010 with his third mixtape '' Finally Famous Vol. 3: Big''. He then s ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 200 ...

, T-Pain, Scarface,

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with B ...

, Birdman, 2 Chainz, Wale,

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

Kirko Bangz Kirk Jerel Randle (born August 20, 1989), better known by his stage name Kirko Bangz, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He is best known for his single, "Drank in My Cup" which was released in 2011 and peaked at number 28 on the US '' ...

, Mavado and

Mack Maine Jermaine Anthony Preyan (born July 28, 1982), better known by his stage name Mack Maine, is an American record executive, songwriter, and rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Mack Maine has been the president of Young Money Entertainment since 2 ...

Background

On December 10, 2011, DJ Khaled announced the title of his next album, ''Kiss the Ring'', via video, with the release date as "coming soon", presumed 2012. The album cover and release date were released in a video promoting the album on May 24, 2012. Guests on the album are

, T-Pain,

, Wale,

, among others. The production team consists of

Jahlil Beats Orlando Jahlil Tucker (born February 8, 1988), better known by his stage name Jahlil Beats, is an American hip hop producer. He is currently signed to Jay Z's Roc Nation. He has produced for artists such as Puff Daddy, Lil Wayne, Fabolous, Mee ...

, Mike WiLL Made It,

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...

, The Runners, J. Cole,

K.E. on the Track Kevin Erondu, better known as K.E. on the Track, is an American record producer. Early life Kevin Erondu was born in Tampa, Florida. He originated in Valdosta, Georgia. Career K.E.'s breakthrough came in 2009, when he produced the single " Swa ...

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League J.U.S.T.I.C.E. (Just Undeniably Some of The Illest Composers Ever) League is an American record production team composed of producers and instrumentalists from Tampa, Florida. The group is made up of members Erik "Rook" Ortiz, Kevin "Colion ...

, The Beat Bully, Detail,

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da ( , a play on "boy wonder"), is a Jamaican-Canadian Record production, record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto raised producer has work ...

DJ Toomp Aldrin Davis (born August 2, 1969), professionally known as DJ Toomp, is an American record producer, songwriter, and DJ. DJ Toomp received his start in 1985, with Atlanta MC Raheem the Dream, producing Raheem’s self-titled record when he was ...

Sonny Digital Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ.

, DASECA Productions and

The Olympicks The Olympicks is an American hip-hop record production and songwriting group that was formed in 2009, and is currently composed of members J-Fab and Knoxville. The group originated in Detroit, Michigan and have been involved in the production of v ...

Singles

The album's first single "

, released on March 27, 2012, featured

and

. On May 20, 2012, the music video for "Take It to the Head" featuring Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne premiered on

MTV Jams BET Jams is an American pay television network controlled by BET Networks and owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos. The network, formerly known as MTV Jams, was rebranded under the B ...

. On June 27, 2012, the album's second single " I Wish You Would" featuring

and

was released. It is produced by

. The music video for "I Wish You Would" premiered on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' on August 13, 2012, along with the music video for West's single "Cold". The song "Bitches & Bottles (Let's Get It Started)" featuring

, T.I. and Lil Wayne was released as a promotional single and debuted at number nine on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart. "They Ready" featuring J. Cole,

& Kendrick Lamar, "I Did It For My Dawgz" featuring

, Rick Ross,

, and "Hip Hop" featuring Scarface,

were also released as promotional singles prior to the album's release. On August 17, 2012, the music video was released for "Don't Get Me Started" featuring

. On August 20, 2012, the music video was released for "Suicidal Thoughts/Aktion Pack" featuring Mavado. On December 2, 2012, the music video for "Bitches & Bottles (Let's Get It Started)" featuring Future, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Ace Hood premiered on MTV Jams. On December 5, 2012, the music video was released for "I Did It for My Dawgs" featuring Rick Ross, Jadakiss, Meek Mill, Ace Hood and French Montana.

Critical reception

''Kiss the Ring'' received generally positive reviews from contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 62, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on seven reviews. In a mixed review, Edwin Ortiz of the HipHopDX, claimed the album "is a series of single tracks that hit or miss, and one can only imagine what DJ Khaled's batting average is at now". In the highest-score review, '' XXL'' editor Adam Fleischer, said the ''Kiss the Ring'' "is brief and overrun with enough proven formulas and artists that the opportunity for a miss barely exists". Mark Bozzer from Canadian music magazine ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' reviewed the album saying "Khaled goes through his hip-hop Rolodex yet again and compiles a strong collection of MCs and producers to add some shine to his latest musical collage".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor David Jeffries characterized as "a run-of-the-mill Khaled album and that mill is still doing pretty awesome". In the review which the album had the lowest score,

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

editor Mike Madden said: "unfortunately, Kiss the Ring often sounds like it was made just to vault the celebrity-status and net worth of the man on its cover."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. It also peaked at number three on

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

. As of September 11, 2012, it had sold 63,000 copies in the US. Then by September 2013, the album had sold 108,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums DJ Khaled albums Albums produced by Boi-1da Albums produced by DJ Toomp Albums produced by Hit-Boy Albums produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Albums produced by J. Cole Albums produced by the Runners Albums produced by Mike Will Made It Albums produced by Jahlil Beats Albums produced by Detail (record producer) Albums produced by DJ Khaled Albums produced by Sonny Digital Cash Money Records albums