DJ Khaled
Interview by Keita Jones and Black Dog Bone
A lot of people don’t know that you’ve actually been in the music industry for a long time doing broadcast. How did you make that switch over from broadcasting to actually making music?
It’s been in my blood all my life. I’ve been in the game for a long time, deejaying, producing, turning into a mogul executive. I’m just a person that loves music. It’s my life. I’ll do anything that has to do with music. Also I’m an artist on Young Money/Cash Money Billionaires/We The Best. It’s exciting for me to be able to put out records for myself as well as to make records for other people, and also being involved in the day to day operations of a record company.
You’ve done everything from broadcasting to running record labels, 
producing, putting out mixed tapes. But you haven’t spit on the mic yet?
I spit on the mic on my remixes. I can do it all! I only do the flowing on the remixes, when I feel like it. But I’m definitely gonna stick to being a boss. I’m gonna stick to just puttin my cosign on a record, puttin my stamp on a record by saying my name and representing my team and my company. It’s just what I do. I’ve been consistent with making these monsta hits for seven years. Been in the game for about 20.
You’re a jack of all trades.
All day! My album just dropped on July 19th; it’s called “We The Best Forever”. I got the number one record in the country right now, it’s called “I’m On One” featuring Drake, Ross and Wayne. Number one song in the country—comin off of “All I Do is Win”, another number one. We doin it big. The album came on July 19th on We the Best Music Group/YMCMB.
2007 marked a big year for Florida, putting Florida on the map in Hip Hop and everyone was united. You played a big role in making that happen. Put Florida into the mainstream and the Top 40’s. Bam—all over the place! Now it’s not as strong as it was. What will it take to bring back that unity and put Florida back in the forefront?
I’ve gotta disagree with you on that point. I feel like we stronger than ever right now. We’ve got DJ Khaled representing Florida. We got Ricky Rozay representing Florida. You got Pitbull representing Florida. Them three names alone are like monsters out there with smash hits. Trick Daddy and Trina. You got Ace Hood with a top ten record right now called “Hustle Off”. I think we super strong. Got T-Pain out there. And of course all the new upcoming artists—the Brisco’s, the Iceberg’s. It’s so many artists out there. You got Flo-rida out there. We’re super strong in Florida, the movement is crazy strong. In Florida we’re unpredictable. You can never know what typa sound we’re gonna come out with. You got Ross about to drop his new album called “God Forgives, I Don’t” that’s a classic in the making. You’ve seen what he’s been doing throughout the years—he’s one of the best in the game. Then you got myself just hurtin the game. We’re in the streets, we in these streets for real. That’s what we make, street music, and we glorify success. Glorifying success is glorifying the music game in Florida. I think we great! I’m here doing a Murder Dog interview; I’m doing something right. I’m on the cover of Murder Dog; I’ve gotta be hot! I always wanted to be on the cover of Murder Dog.
For real?
I’m tellin the truth. I always wanted to be on the cover of Murder Dog. I’m a definitely a fan of the magazine, and I appreciate Murder Dog for continuing to make a magazine. The internet is so heavy in the game, and y’all still making the magazines. It’s nothing like getting the book and saving it and puttin it up in your room and reading an article. This is a real authentic street magazine.
And we’ve been DJ Khaled fans forever. We’ve been fucking fans for a long time.
Thank you. When I got the call to get on the cover I was excited. I appreciate it. This gives me a chance to thank my supporters—thank you out there and thank you to Murder Dog too.
We appreciate you comin out here and showing us time and blessing us with your presence. You mentioned a lotta heavy hitter big names outta Florida. I understand that for a time you were Luke’s right hand man. What’s it gonna take to bring him back to the forefront?
Luke didn’t never go nowhere. Luke is a legend. When you’re a legend, an icon—Luke is an iconic artist. Luke IS Miami. He actually helped me A LOT. He let me be the co-host of his radio show that lead me to have my own show on the same station, 99 Jams. Luke really supported me and believed in me. I always have a rule: if you could survive workin for Luke you’re gonna be big. And if you can’t survive workin for Luke, you’re not gonna make it. I’m not sayin you can’t make it; I’m sayin you ain’t as strong as you thought you was. Cause Luke, he’s a special kind of person. He’s my good friend and he’s a legend. The man created a sound in the early days of Miami and he helped a lotta people, me, Trick Daddy, JT Money, Ross rocked with Luke. He’s a legend and he’s a boss. We love him, we support him, and he supports us. You see, Luke’s still in the streets. You can catch him anywhere in the hood. Or you catch him at a party. We still stay in contact. He’s helped me tremendously. He’s part of my story. Definitely.
YMCMB. How did that deal come about?
Wayne and Birdman and Slim, Mack 10, the whole team, they’ve been my brothers for a long time. They supported all my music from day one, I supported them from day one. We knew each other for a long time. Even if I wasn’t YMCMB I’d be YMCMB. Meaning, that’s family. You understand? What happened was when my contract was done with E-1, me and Birdman had a conversation. We always talked about it, how he would love for me to be part of his imprint. I was like, “I would love to bring myself and We The Best into YMC and Cash Money.” It was a family thing and he believes in my vision. He supports me 100%. That’s what I love, working with somebody that believes in me, that supports me and lets me do what I need to do to win. All he wanna do is put steroids into the situation to take it to the next level. My job is to make great music, my job is to work hard and to hustle hard. I think we make a great team. And we got some more surprises coming up. We got another big announcement coming up soon. But it’s family, we’ve known each other for a long time. I knew Birdman before he had his first big deal. I knew him when he was in the streets of New Orleans. I used to work at a record store called Odyssey Records, and I used to be a DJ. Birdman used to bring records and cassette tapes and sell ‘em outta his trunk. They used to sell out in an hour. I used to call him up, “We need more!” I actually met Wayne at the store too. YMCMB, DJ Khaled, We The Best Forever, It’s an epic.
What can we expect from the new album?
It’s crazy. We got the hit single, I’m on one—number one song in the country. The record before that had “Welcome To My Hood”. That was my set-up that woke the streets up. Now I just dropped a new record a couple of days ago called “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” featuring me, Mary J. Blige, Fabolous and Jadakiss. It’s something special. I’d never worked with Mary J before. I got Cee-lo Green on the album, I got The Game on the album, I got the whole YM team on the album. I got Jeezy on the album, I got Ludacris on the album. I got the whole world on my album. Waka Flocka, Ace Hood, Busta Rhymes. I got Keyshia Cole, Chris Brown and Nee-yo on one record. I got hits! It’s a special album, my fifth album. I’m excited because before I even dropped the album the success was amazing. I’m already number one, “Welcome To My Hood”, the new record “It Ain’t Over ‘Til it’s Over”. I’m just happy to make music for the people. I make music for the people in the streets, that’s what I do and I ain’t never gonna stop doing that. I can relate to everybody in the streets so I make music for them. I’m on one! You on one! The whole world on one! Welcome to my hood, I’m reppin every hood in the country. “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over”, the new record I just dropped with Mary, that’s meaning like: we ain’t never gonna stop. That’s the concept of that record: we here, forever. It’s all about that Murder Dog love, feel me?
Did you produce all the tracks on the album?
Co-produced most of the records on the album. I put all the records together, meaning I orchestrated them. I’m like the Barry Gordy/Quincy Jones of Hip Hop. I’ll have a vision of a record, I’ll pick a track and then I’ll say, “I’ll put Wayne on here, Ross on here or T-Pain on here, whoever, Keyshia Cole, Chris Brown…” Then I’ll get the music, get with the producer and we’ll get what we wanna get. Then I’ll orchestrate the situation. Sit down with the artists like I’m sittin with you now and explain what I’m lookin for. Usually I already have the names of my records before I send it to them, meaning what I wanna talk about. I wanna make sure that me and the artist are on the same page: give me your best work cause I’m gonna put in my best work. The “I’m On One” record, Drake was a heavy part of that record. I was trying to get him for like a year. I was patient enough to wait that long and it was worth it. Drake felt like, “Khaled you’re doin your thing, you always be makin these big records. Let’s take it to another level with a new sound.” He helped me get that new sound. So shout out to Drake. And me and Ross, we always gonna be hurtin the game. We always gonna make these hits. And Wayne always supports me. But this album’s different cause I worked with a lotta people who I’d never worked with. Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Nee-Yo and Chris Brown all on one record. And Jeezy and Ludo on one record together. Then I got this new record called “The Future” with Big Sean, Ace Hood, Meek Mills, Walé and Mavado. It’s something for the streets for the new generation. It’s crazy! I’m really excited about it.
Speaking of success, there have been a lot of deejays and radio personalities who have switched to the music industry, made a few records and then disappeared. But you keep on going, you’ve got 5 albums, hittin number one, killing the billboards. What is your secret to success? What makes Khaled so hot?
Me, I can speak for myself. Me personally, I’m not scared to take it to the next level. I don’t follow no rule book or guidelines of “this is how you do it”. I do it cause I love it. And I’m gonna kick in every door to win. I feel like I just got music in my blood. I come from deejaying but I’m also a producer. And I’m also a boss; I run my own record company We The Best Music. I’m also one of the presidents at Def Jam, Def Jam South. I’m an executive over there. And then I’m an artist at one of the biggest record companies in the world called Cash Money. I took it to the next level. I am the definition of the word hustle. I also have the number one night radio show in Miami. I also own my own management company; I manage some of the biggest producers in the game. I also got my own publishing company. It’s a lotta stuff that people don’t know what I do behind the scenes. I am a mogul. If you’re in the music game for being a producer or a DJ or whatever you realize that every big artist or boss, they have a story. Go investigate their story, it’s probably similar to mine as in, they came from deejayin or they came from interning or they came from just hustlin hard. Russell Simmons didn’t become Russell Simmons. Puff Daddy didn’t just become Puff Daddy. They’ve got a story. Birdman and Slim did not just become the biggest moguls in the industry. They came from the street, ground up to become where they are now. That’s my story as well. My advice to everybody out there is: live your dreams, set some goals, don’t take no as an answer. Go out there and get it. Like Ace Hood said: hustle hustle hustle hard.
I definitely need to give a shout out to Ace Hood, he’s doin his thing. I remember seein him once on TV back in early 2008. You were saying, “I got this new artist and he’s got the whole hood.” Then that track came out with T-Pain and Rick Ross, “Cash Flow”. That was hard. I was bangin that for 4 months straight.
I’m very excited about Ace. To break a new artist is a major accomplishment. And I just love to see my brother come up and get money. I’m glad I could help my brother reach his dreams. And he represents my logo, We The Best. Ace Hood, his story’s special because when I signed him my team and my movement is so powerful but we came from nothing. We cosigned my guy because we believed in him. And now all the cosigning we did is paying off because now people respect him because of his hustle. From “Cash Flow” all the way to “Hustle Hard”—when “Hustle Hard” came out people said, we gotta respect Ace Hood. He’s consistent, he makes hits, and they understand his story now. Now besides a star, he’s turning into a superstar. You see him performing at the BET awards, hurtin that stage doing “Hustle Hard”. His new album comes out August 9, it’s called “Blood, Sweat and Tears”. He’s got a new record about to drop with Chris Brown. He’s a star. He the future. And I’m gonna go all in for him. I need him to be the biggest in the world because he deserves it. I’m gonna support him, and I ain’t gonna take no as an answer.
There seems to be a trend among the Hip Hop labels of getting a squad together. Who’s on We The Best? What’s your squad?
We The Best is special because the only artist I’m puttin out right now is Ace Hood. I have more artists—look out for Rum out of Virginia, real street cat. He’s so street that he’s serious with it. His raps is crazy. But what I’m doin is I’m lettin build the way I built. Get the streets hot, let people know your story, so when I come in and push that button it’ll be a smoother run for you. So right now all priorities is on me and Ace. But the thing is We The Best is bigger than just me and Ace because Ross is my brother, he’s Maybach Music. We’re brothers, so I’m also Maybach and he’s We The Best. We family. That whole Florida movement, we support each other, we support our brands. Shout out to everybody that’s doing it.
Being from the Bay, we rep hard. What’s it gonna take to get some Bay Area artists collaborating with you?
I wanna do something. Shout out to E-40 and Mistah F.A.B., those are friends of mine. We definitely need to do something. If it’s me doing something on their project or something on my project. And I’d like to get to know some of the artists out here. This is the first time I’ve ever been here. I’m just happy I got a chance to be here and get on the radio and talk to Murder Dog. Hopefully we can build more relationships and get some music poppin. Even if it’s a mixtape or whatever. I love workin with everybody. I’m down. Over here, I’m ready!
That’s what’s up. So all you camps out here in the Bay Area, listen up.
What was that anthem from the Bay, it was a big one, “The San Francisco Anthem” with Big Rich? I liked that one. I liked the video. I liked what he was talkin about. It just felt real. I like Big Rich too, I’ve been watching him.
Big Rich is hot. I roll with Big Rich.
I roll with Big Rich too. Shout out to Big Rich.
You’re real big in Africa. You should do something with some artists from Africa.
I did a record with somebody from Africa. I can’t remember the guy’s name. He came out to Miami and I did a record with him. I’ve heard I get a lotta love out there. I plan one day to come out there, get a chance to perform for Africa. I would love to do that too. I love to work with everybody. Besides people wanna get on my albums, I’m open to getting on people’s albums as well. Or collaborating in some way. Ace Hood’s the same. We love to work with everybody. This is the outlet for me to tell everybody I’m here and I’m ready to rock. If the music’s right and it’s representing the right talk on there, then I’m down. I gotta make sure the talk is right, as in “what we’re talking about”, because I represent that street. You feel me? I want that real deal.
You’re of Palestinian descent and there’s a lot goin on in Palestine right now. What is your response to some of the critics out there who say that DJ Khaled is not being the voice of Palestine like he should be. Or if you are, what’s going on with that?
I never heard none of that, that I’m not the voice. Of course I represent all the Arabs. I’m an Arab! He’s my god right here. I’m an Arab 100%. My family’s Arab. I was born in the US, but I’ve been back to my country. My family’s from Ramallah and Jerusalem. I represent my people. My name is Khaled. That’s all I do is rep. And I represent everybody. Shout out to everybody in the Middle East. Of course, peace in the Middle East. And the people that is saying that, I wouldn’t know because I don’t surround myself by negative energy. I keep myself around the right people, and the right people is the real people. I can’t worry about people who make false statements. But definitely, DJ Khaled reps all my people across the world.
There’s a lot going on in the Middle East, not just Palestine. What’s your reaction to what’s going on in the Middle East?
My reaction is I wanna make sure that my peoples is safe. I wanna make sure that the youth out there and the families are safe out there. All I can do is pray every day and pray for the best. I pray to Allah every day that they are safe. I believe in peace. Peace can’t always happen. If it did the whole world would be one piece. It’s not like that unfortunately. I just want everything to go right. I still have family over there and actually we have a house over there as well. I always keep in contact with my family and make sure everything’s good.
Have you ever heard of Fredwreck from LA? He’s done a lot for Kurupt.
I heard of him. I was in LA yesterday and somebody brought his name up. I don’t know him personally, but I would like to get to know him.
A lotta people would like to hear you and Fredwreck on a track together.
Let’s get it. Is he reppin what I’m reppin?
He’s reppin. He’s been puttin it down for a minute. He’s up there with DJ Quik and BattleCat.
I love BattleCat and Quik too. I’m a big fan of them. And I shout out to Fredwreck. If someone representing for Murder Dog is tellin me he’s down then I wanna rock with him.
What do you have to say to the people who are critical of you using the word “nigga”.
I don’t surround myself with people who say shit like that. I’m from the Middle East. When I was young people used to call me sand nigga. And I’m doing Hip Hop. I don’t know what they’re talkin about. You know where the Middle East is, right next to Africa. That’s where I come from and where my family comes from. That’s my roots. It’s always love. I don’t have the problem.
I was into you because you have the Middle Eastern background. I’ve lived in the Middle East. What made you do what you’re doing with Rap? The Middle Eastern music is amazing.
I love Middle Eastern music. It’s amazing. I actually use some of those instrument in some of my music. Oud, tabla, all that. I love music. Where are you from?
I’m from Sri Lanka.
What do you do for a living?
Murder Dog!
That’s why I’m asking. This is Murder Dog. What made you do with Murder Dog coming where you’re from? Because you love the culture. It’ s not where you’re from. It’s not your nationality. Hip Hop is a culture, it’s a life, and that’s what I am. I’m Hip Hop. You could be from London, Japan, Hip Hop is everywhere. I don’t know how much more Hip Hop you want me to get. I’m on the cover of Murder Dog! It’s no race or no culture that could go against Hip Hop. We all are Hip Hop. We The Best Forever. We The Best, YMCMB. We rich forever.
