“Sorry Not Sorry” by DJ Khaled (ft. Jay-Z, Nas, James Fauntleroy & Harmonies by The Hive)
DJ Khaled’s tracks tend to have an inspirational tone, though fueled by braggadocio. Such sentiments tend to come through especially strong on his songs considering that the vocalists he features are usually well-known millionaire artists themselves. And few are richer than Jay-Z and Nas. So the respective 47 and 51-year old use this opportunity to of course remind the world of such.
Nas
We already know that Jay-Z is filthy rich, having been verified a billionaire back in 2019. Meanwhile in more recent times Nas himself has been all over the news for some of his investments, such as in the cryptocurrency field, paying off. And being a rapper with no problem in terms of handling multi-syllable words, he does in fact refer to himself as being “basically cryptocurrency Scarface”.
And fundamentally, he is able to mix his boastings of wealth with actual facts to verify such. So at this stage in his life, Nas’s lyrics aren’t so much about the streets. Rather they’re centered hardcore business flaunting. But of course before closing out, he reminds us that he was once a street-based drug dealer (i.e. cooking “(co)caine in the kitchen”), to highlight how he has come up throughout the years.
Jay-Z
Meanwhile, those types of lyrics are already things that his big bro, Jay-Z, has done in the past. So it’s not so much about Jigga namedropping companies and brands at this point. Instead he refers to “a double B”, which some hardcore fans have concluded is a shrouded way of saying “two billion”.
And whereas he might not quite be there as at the writing of this post, Jay-Z is reportedly worth a solid $1,400,000,000 ($1.4 billion) as of March 2021. So if he broke a billion in 2019, then it’s not farfetched to believe that soon he will indeed get to $2 billion.
Jay-Z also gives a shoutout to his wife, “the other Bey”, who also happens to be an underground co-feature on this track. And overall what we’re dealing with here, in terms of his verse, is more or less your usual Jay-Z fare.
Chorus for “Sorry Not Sorry”
Meanwhile as far as the chorus goes, it features the vocalists (Beyoncé and James Fauntleroy) sarcastically apologizing, i.e. being “sorry [but] not sorry” for “living the dream”, i.e. being rich and successful. Or put more directly, they’re taunting haters.
They also acknowledge the fact that they “came from nothing”, i.e. humble backgrounds compared to where they are now. That is actually a subtheme of a track, as both Nas and to a lesser extent Jay-Z also touch upon it.
And again, we acknowledge DJ Khaled as perhaps the most-inspirational figure in hip-hop. But honestly if such a sentiment is meant to highlight “Sorry Not Sorry”, it gets lost under all of the boasting. But judging by the nature of the title, perhaps such is the intended effect.
Who is/are Harmonies by The Hive on “Sorry Not Sorry”?
As you can see, there are four featured artists on this track. Jay and Nas are of course a pair of classic New York City rappers, respectively tracing their careers back to the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. James Fauntleroy is a singer and songwriter from Inglewood who has been more successful in the latter regard. And it has been concluded that Harmonies by The Hive is actually a moniker for Beyoncé herself.
Facts about “Sorry Not Sorry”
The music video to this track was directed by another hip-hop artist who made a name for himself during the 1990s, filmographer Hype Williams.
DJ Khaled, himself being from New Orleans, has teamed up with Nas, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, in varying capacities, before. And there is also a Khaled track dating back to 2007 entitled “Foolish (Remix)” which features James Fauntleroy, in addition to 13 other artists.
Of course it is Khaled who produced “Sorry Not Sorry”, doing so in conjunction with Tarik Azzouz and StreetRunner. And Khaled is also credited as writer, accomplishing that task alongside the following:
- Nas
- Jay-Z
- Harmonies by The Hive
- James Fauntleroy
As far as the relationships between the most-prominent features go, Jay-Z and Nas were once homeys turned rivals and then, in more recent years, back to friends again. Since their early days as ‘hood rappers, they have both become very rich due largely to investments they’ve made outside of the music industry. And of course Beyoncé, a music superstar in her own right, has been Jay-Z’s wife since 2008.
This track is from “Khaled Khaled”, DJ Khaled’s 2021 project and 14th studio album overall. And as with traditional DJ Khaled fare, the album features a slew of A list musicians, outside of the ones mentioned above, such as Drake, Justin Bieber, Cardi B and Lil Wayne. And the labels that put it out are Khaled’s We the Best, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, Fat Joe’s Terror Squad and Epic Records.
FYI: Demi Lovato also has a hit single titled “Sorry Not Sorry“. Hers came out in 2017. DJ Khaled’s however, has no connection with Demi’s.
