DJ Khaled
Born: 26 November 1975
Age:
Years Active: 1998–present
Genre/s: Hip hop, pop rap
Label/s: Terror Squad, Koch, We the Best, E1 Music, Cash Money, Universal Motown, Universal Republic, Republic, RED, Epic, Def Jam
Member of: Terror Squad
Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, rapper, and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting music industry artists to perform on singles and albums, for which he typically serves as producer and hype man. His distinctions are his maximalist production style, booming voice presence, "motivational" abstractions, and numerous catchphrases.
Khaled was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, 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 and as a producer for the group. Following his production credits on the group's material, Khaled enlisted several hip hop artists associated with the group and his native Miami to perform on his debut studio album, Listennn... the Album (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 single "All I Do Is Win" (featuring T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross), which received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
His fifth studio album and major label debut, We the Best Forever (2011), saw continued commercial success and brought Khaled to mainstream prominence by spawning 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. Throughout 2015 and 2016, Khaled gained wider recognition as a public figure due to his social media activity. This, along with several Internet memes, 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 was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.
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—Khaled's first Grammy Award win. His eponymous twelfth album (2021) and thirteenth album, God Did (2022), both debuted atop the Billboard 200. 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. Khaled is scheduled to release his fourteenth studio album, Aalam of God, in 2026.
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 Bad Boys for Life (2020) and its sequel Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024), and had a voice role in the animated film Spies in Disguise (2019). His record label, We the Best Music Group, has distributed his releases since its formation in 2008, though Khaled signed other artists to the imprint including Ace Hood, Kent Jones, Mavado, Flipp Dinero, and Vado, among others.
