DJ Khaled
Khaled Mohammed Khaled (/ˈkælɪd/; Arabic: خالد محمد خالد; born November 26, 1975),[3] known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American record producer, disc jockey, radio personality, and record executive. Originally a Miami-based radio hype man, Khaled has become known for his extensive curation of high-profile music industry artists and producers to record singles or albums. His distinctions are his booming voice presence, "motivational" abstractions, and numerous catchphrases. While his musical contribution is often questioned, Khaled's role has been described as "organization, direction, [and] promotion".[4][5]
Not to be confused with American disc jockey DJ Khalil, Algerian musician Khaled (musician) or American R&B singer Khalid (singer).
DJ Khaled
- Beat Novacane
- Arab Attack
- Record producer
- DJ
- radio personality
- record executive
- songwriter
- hype man
1998–present
Nicole Tuck
2
Khaled was born in New Orleans to Palestinian immigrant parents. He first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s for the radio station 99 Jamz, and translated his popularity by working with Fat Joe's hip hop collective Terror Squad as a DJ for their live performances. After gaining production credits on the group's material,[6] Khaled independently released his debut album, Listennn... the Album, in 2006. His second album, We the Best (2007), spawned the hit single "I'm So Hood" (featuring T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross and Plies). His two subsequent releases—We Global (2008) and Victory (2010)—both peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200; the latter was supported by the triple platinum–certified single "All I Do Is Win" (featuring T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross).
His fifth studio album and major label debut, We the Best Forever (2011), saw continued commercial success, and helped bring Khaled to mainstream prominence as it was supported by his first Billboard Hot 100-top ten single, "I'm on One" (featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne). His following three albums—Kiss the Ring (2012), Suffering from Success (2013), and I Changed a Lot (2015)—were released to moderate critical and commercial reception.[7] Throughout 2015 and 2016, Khaled gained wider recognition as a public figure and Internet meme due to his activity on social media. This foresaw the release of his ninth studio album, Major Key (2016), which was met with further critical and commercial success as it debuted atop the Billboard 200 and yielded his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album.
His tenth album, Grateful (2017), became his second consecutive number-one album and was preceded by the singles "I'm the One" (featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne) and "Wild Thoughts" (featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller), which peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. His eleventh album, Father of Asahd (2019), contained the song "Higher" (featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend), which won Best Rap/Sung Performance at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, and was Khaled's first Grammy Award win. His eponymous twelfth album (2021) also peaked atop the Billboard 200, along with his thirteenth album, God Did, which released the following year. The latter's title track (featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy) earned three nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.
Outside of music, Khaled has gained success as a writer, with his book The Keys featuring on the New York Times Best Seller list. He has also performed as an actor for the films Spies in Disguise (2019) and Bad Boys for Life (2020). His record label, We the Best Music Group has distributed his releases since its formation in 2008, while has also Khaled signed other artists to the imprint including Ace Hood, Kent Jones, Mavado, Flipp Dinero, and Vado, among others.
Early life
Khaled Mohammed Khaled was born on November 26, 1975, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Palestinian parents who immigrated to the United States;[8] his father was from Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya, and his mother from Ramallah.[9] His brother Alec Ledd (Alaa Khaled) is an actor.[10]
His musician parents played Arabic music; Khaled started developing an interest in rap and soul music at a young age, and his parents supported his interest. He worked in a local Merry-Go-Round record store which helped to lay the foundation for his music career.[11][12][13]
Artist relationships
Rick Ross
Rick Ross has been described as one of Khaled’s “longest-running collaborators”.[79] With reference to Khaled, Ross has stated: “He knows what’s going to get me excited… He’ll run in the room yelling, ‘I got some shit, Rozay!’ — and nine times out of 10, when he’s that excited, it’s something that’s going to end up feeling good. That’s always been the dynamic, since “I'm So Hood,” and the list goes on.”[79] On their relationship, Khaled states: “Ross is my brother,” he said. “That’s Day 1. That’s family. Me and him come from the bottom, the mud, to marble floors. When he’s shouting me out on that record, that’s what you call a real friend, family. [He] loves me and I love him back. Me and him are forever. Music or no music. It’s Khaled and Ross forever.”[80]
In 2006, Khaled produced the song "I'm a G" (featuring Lil Wayne and Brisco) on Ross’s debut, Port of Miami.[79] The same year, Ross made guest performances on two singles from Khaled's debut Listennn... the Album: "Born-N-Raised" and "Holla at Me". In 2007, Ross featured on the hit single "I'm So Hood" as part of Khaled’s second album, We the Best. Ross also contributed vocals to “We Takin' Over”, a song on the same album, which peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the US Hot Rap Tracks chart and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on November 20, 2007.[19] The same year, both Ross and Khaled made a guest appearance on the single "100 Million" as part of Birdman's 2007 album 5 * Stunna. In 2008, Ross featured on the single "Out Here Grindin" as part of Khaled's third album, We Global. In 2010, Ross featured on the hit single "All I Do Is Win", part of Khaled’s fourth album Victory. The track became triple platinum-certified. In 2011, Ross featured on what became a Billboard Hot 100 top ten single, "I'm on One", as part of Khaled’s fifth studio album, We the Best Forever. Ross also featured on the song "Welcome to My Hood" in the same album. In 2012, Ross featured on two singles from Khaled’s sixth album, Kiss the Ring: "Take It to the Head" and "I Wish You Would".[81] In early 2013, Ross featured on the single "No New Friends" as part of Khaled’s seventh album, Suffering from Success. On 16 May 2013, Birdman and Ross announced that their collaborative album The H would be released as a mixtape hosted by Khaled on 23 May 2013.[82][83] In April 2014, Ross featured on the song "They Don't Love You No More", the first single from Khaled’s eighth studio album I Changed a Lot. In August 2014, both Khaled and Ross featured on "Don't Shoot", a single by American rapper the Game. In November 2014, Ross also featured on the remix to "Hold You Down". In 2016, Ross featured on two songs from Khaled’s ninth studio album, Major Key: the single “Do You Mind” and the track "Fuck Up the Club". In 2017, Ross featured on three tracks from Khaled’s tenth studio album, Grateful: "On Everything", "Down for Life" and "Whatever". In 2019, Ross featured on one track from Khaled’s eleventh studio album, Father of Asahd: "Big Boy Talk". In 2021, Ross featured on one song from Khaled’s twelfth studio album, Khaled Khaled: "This Is My Year". In 2022, Ross rapped the first verse of the title track of Khaled’s thirteenth album, God Did. The song earned three nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. The same year, Ross and Khaled both featured on the GQ Hype Debate Show, debating the greatest snack of all time. Ross was a proponent of his own Rap Snacks whereas Khaled endorsed Cinnamon Toast Crunch.[84]
Drake
The relationship between Drake and Khaled has been described as “uniquely fruitful”.[79]
Public figure
Jeff Ihaza of the Rolling Stone has described Khaled thus: “Khaled wears a pristinely lined haircut. His beard follows sharp angles that enforce a perfect symmetry along his face. When he’s trying to muster up the right word, either for clarity or comedic timing, his eyes carry a piercing seriousness, like an athlete laser-focused on a play. But he’s largely instinctive in his delivery — in plucking whatever he’s trying to convey from his brain and placing it into yours.”[79] He has also been described as “a natural in front of the camera”.[79] Khaled is known for his social media presence; he states: “I don’t do too many interviews… cause I’ve got my own interview: I say what I want to say anytime I want.”[85]
Personal life
Khaled and his wife Nicole Tuck have a son, Asahd Tuck Khaled, born on October 23, 2016. Khaled garnered national attention after streaming the birth live on his Snapchat account.[86] On January 20, 2020, Tuck gave birth to their second son, Aalam Tuck Khaled.[87]
In January 2017, Khaled purchased Robbie Williams's former house in Mulholland Estates, a gated community in Los Angeles, California.[88] In 2018, Khaled purchased a waterfront home in Miami for $25.9 million.[89] The mansion is larger than 12,000 square-feet and has been dubbed as “the Resort” by Khaled.[79] Khaled owns several cars, including a Maybach which is one of 150 special-edition models custom-designed by the Virgil Abloh. Khaled has named this vehicle the “Cappuccino”.[79]
Khaled has described himself as a devout Muslim.[8]
Other ventures
Film
Khaled provided a voice in the animated film Spies in Disguise, which was released on December 25, 2019.[90] He also appeared in Bad Boys for Life.[91]
Literature
In 2016, he wrote a book, The Keys: A memoir, which includes his opinions on success, recounts life stories, and describes contributions from other musicians.[92] The book became a New York Times bestseller.[79]
Golfing
Khaled is known for his love of golf, paired with his catchphrase: “Let’s go golfing!” He has appeared on the cover of Golf Digest and is a frequenter of the Miami Beach Golf Club.[79] Khaled’s We the Best Foundation hosted its inaugural golf tournament in 2023, raising thousands for organisations which aid youth in Miami. Sean Combs alone reportedly donated $150,000 to the cause.[79]
2018 SEC settlement
In November 2018, together with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Khaled agreed to a total settlement of $750,000 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to disclose payments accepted from issuers of an initial coin offering, specifying a personal $50,000 promotional payment from beleaguered cryptocurrency firm Centra Tech Inc.,[96] whose co-founders were indicted for fraud in May 2018. According to the SEC, "they are its first cases involving charges for violating rules on touting investments in so-called initial coin offerings, or ICOs."[96] As part of the settlement, Khaled agreed to not enter any endorsement or promotional agreement with a securities participant for two years.[97]
