In an industry where names and reputations come and go almost daily, DJ Khaled has proved he has staying power — the longer his career goes on, the more successful he gets. He began his career on Miami’s 99 Jamz radio station 25 years ago, released his debut album in the mid-2000s, and at the dawn of the 2020s, won the Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Performance along with John Legend and Nipsey Hussle. ‘I’m the One’, his 2017 collab with Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo and Lil Wayne, went 28x platinum worldwide and has hit over 1.6 billion YouTube views. The follow-up single, ‘Wild Thoughts’ (featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller), also hit the billion-view mark and went 20x platinum. His 2022 album, God Did, became his fourth number-one Billboard album.
Khaled comes from New Orleans and started out on the hip-hop scene in the Big Easy, working in a record store and DJing at soundclashes and on pirate stations. After becoming involved with 99 Jamz, he hooked up with Terror Squad, first as their live DJ, then as a producer. He then launched his solo career in 2006 with Listennn… The Album, working with the likes of Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, and more. Since then, he has kept up a prodigious workrate, releasing more than a dozen albums in just over 15 years. He built his reputation with platinum hits such as ‘We Takin’ Over’, ‘I’m So Hood’, ‘All I Do is Win’, and many others.
Khaled has won a plethora of awards, including five BET Hip-Hop Awards for DJ of the Year and a BRIT Award for Best International Artist.
