Khaled Mohamed Khaled aka “DJ Khaled” is an actual DJ, music producer, songwriter and entertainer that has done quite a bit over the course of his career. The entertainer was born in 1975 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
His parents were Palestinian immigrants who came to the United States. Khaled is a member of the Muslim faith. His parents got him interested in music, having been musicians themselves and playing Arabian music when he was a child.
At an early age, Khaled had an interest in rap music and soul, and began to build his interest and skills by working in a record store as a teenager. In the 1990s, he began his rise out of obscurity with a local radio show on an urban music station that became quite popular.
Station WEDR aired Khaled’s show “99Jamz.” Later on, the popularity of the show caused other members of the music community take notice. In particular was a hip-hop group called Terror Squad.
They initially asked Khaled to DJ for them, but he ended up doing a lot more including helping to produce their new albums and live performances. Khaled has been able to turn what might seem like a small leg up in the entertainment industry into a full-blown career that has made him millions of dollars.
DJ Khaled is said to have a net worth around $75 Million, an impressive figure for sure. Read on as we look at his career and how he amassed such a fortune.
DJ Khaled: The Facts
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| Net Worth: | $75 Million |
|---|---|
| 📆 DOB: | November, 26 1975 |
| 🌎 Country of Origin: | United States / Palestinian Parents |
| 💲 Source of Wealth: | DJ / Record Producer |
| ✅ Updated: | 2023 |
How Did DJ Khaled Become Famous?
DJ Khaled became well known in the local community after his radio show became popular among hip-hop musicians and others that listen to hip-hop.
Eventually, this show was so well known that an up-and-coming hip-hop group decided to ask him to DJ their live shows and eventually to help them produce better music.
After earning those production credits, Khaled turned to curating albums. His debut studio album was called Listennn… the Album and it was released in 2006 and earned gold certification.
Another curated album came in 2007 called We the Best and it contained a song that would become a top 20 single. Khaled continued to release these curated albums which led to his name becoming more and more well-known and equated with terrific music.
Soon, people were seeking out his advice and looking to him as an expert in the hip-hop world. He released his fifth studio album in 2011 and it also had major commercial excess including a top 10 hit that saw him come to international attention.
A Young DJ Khaled
In the years after that, the albums that were released contained songs that charted and gained status and made him a household name when it came to hip-hop music.
While these hit songs and album successes were certainly the biggest part of what made DJ Khaled famous, they were not the only thing. He was able to turn his fame and success at producing and curating albums into other media ventures that allowed him to gain recognition and respect the same as any other hip-hop music professional.
DJ Khaled has also become quite famous for other appearances as well around the entertainment industry. This includes doing interviews and talk shows, acting in movies and television shows and hosting responsibilities. In addition, he has found success as an author. His book which is titled The Keys has been listed on the New York Times bestseller list.
DJ Khaled’s Relationship with Music
One of the primary focuses for Khaled is music. That’s where he got his start and it is where he continues to focus his efforts today. His relationship with music extends far beyond the curating albums that he does and into songwriting, producing songs and helping other artists achieve success.
However, it is those curated albums that have been released throughout the years that have shown how adept he is at choosing the right music to go on an album and knowing what the market wants.
However, in order to understand DJ Khaled’s relationship with music better, you first have to understand the timeline and the music that he has already been involved with. This starts with understanding the history of the music.
Khaled’s first curated album was called Listennnn and it was released on June 6th of 2006. This was his debut, and it was released by Koch Records. The album did amazingly well for a first effort, appearing on the Billboard 200 chart in the number 12 spot.
The second album came right on time in 2007. It was called We the Best. It contained a number of singles which did extremely well including “I’m so Hood” with T-Pain and Rick Ross among others, “We Takin’ Over with Birdman, Lil’ Wayne and Akon and more.
The latter climbed to the number 28th spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 11 on the Hot Rap Tracks Chart. The single was certified gold in 2007. Khaled also won two Ozone awards that year: Best Video and Best Radio DJ.
Khlaed released his third album in 2008. It was titled We Global, and it featured Rick Ross, Akon, Trick Daddy and More. One of the singles was Out Here Grindin’ while another that featured T-Pain and Kanye West was called Go Hard. The single “I’m So Hood” was certified platinum on June 4 of 2008.
Khaled also took home awards that year including from the BET hip-hop awards and from the ozone awards. He was also appointed the president of DEF Jam Records South in 2009.
Khaled’s fourth album was released on March 2nd of 2010. It had a number of singles and a who’s who of modern hip hop artists including Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Nelly and several others.
The singles from the album included “All I do is Win,” “Put Your Hands Up” and “Fed Up.” The single “All I Do is Win” was certified double-platinum and the album began at the number 12 spot on the Billboard 200.
The next album was called We The Best Forever. The name was announced on Twitter and it was released with a number of labels including Cash Money Records, Def Jam South, We the Best Music Group and Terror Squad. Performers on this album included Birdman, Jay-Z, Cee Lo Green, Nicki Minaj and more.
The first single was released in January of 2011 called “Welcome to My Hood” which featured Lil’ Wayne among others. Kiss the Ring was the 2012 album.
His 7th album was inspired by a bald spot on his beard that his doctor joked was due to “Suffering from Success.” That became the name of the seventh album with the first single featuring Drake and Lil’ Wayne and called “No New Friends.”
DJ Khaled Songwriting
Songwriting is definitely a big part of the entertainer’s career. He is written or cowritten dozens of songs, many of them appearing on the albums that he has put out. Songwriting has become one of the main things that Khaled has become well-known for.
With his collaboration with other hip-hop artists, he has been able to create a reputation for knowing what cells in the hip-hop world and what will go together on an album in order to create both album sales and potential chart toppers.
Most of the singles that he is released have some of his songwriting influence, and most of them have also done really well on the hip-hop and top 100 charts.
Here are some of the songs that he is responsible for.
- Cash Flow (Ace Hood song)
- Culture
- Dinero
- Do You Mind
- Don’t Shoot
- Down in the DM
- Fed Up
- For Free
- Free Enterprise
- Go Hard
- Gold Slugs
- Hold You Down
- Holy Key
- How Many Times
- I Believe
- I Got the Keys
- I Wanna Be with You
- I Wish You Would
- I’m on One
- I’m the One
- It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over
- Lockjaw
- No Brainer
- No Codefendant
- No New Friends
- On Everything
- The Originators
- Out Here Grindin
- Pride (Kodak Black song)
- Put Your Hands Up
- Rent Money (Future song)
- Shining
- They Don’t Love You No More
- To the Max
- Top Off
- We Takin’ Over
- Wild Thoughts
- You Mine
DJ Khaled: The DJ
Of course, the most prominent part of his persona might be as a DJ. This comes in part because his entertainer name starts with DJ, and because that’s how he got his start. He began to rise to prominence doing a radio show, and then ended up deejaying for a hip-hop group.
There is no doubt that DJing has been a huge part of his career, although mostly these days he is involved in curating songs for albums and doing other sorts of entertainment presentations. This may include television and hosting appearances that are very much like the job of a radio DJ, but they are totally different gigs.
DJ Khaled: The Producer
Being a producer on so many different albums in different projects by artists from the world of hip-hop is certainly contributed to DJ Khaled’s success. The first time that he was able to contribute in a producer role was for the hip-hop artist that hired him to do their deejaying after his radio show became so popular.
However, since then, Khaled has contributed in a producer role for dozens of different hip-hop artists. He has served as a producer role for his own curated albums, but also on the albums of others where his creative expression and knowledge of hip-hop has made the album better.
Production certainly seems to be the way that Khaled is contributing to the hip-hop world these days. He has done a few other things in the entertainment world such as presenting in acting, but his main focus still seems to be on the music.
Making music better in the world of hip-hop has earned him multiple awards and nominations, sparked relationships with literally dozens of different hip-hop artists from all over the world and earned him a reputation for putting up the kind of music that gets noticed and even climb the charts in both single and album form.
DJ Khaled Other Ventures
There are also other ventures that Khaled has been involved in throughout the years. One of the things that Khaled has become well known for is authorship. He has only written one book, but it featured on the New York Times bestseller list and it was called The Keys.
In addition to this, he has acted in a major production at least once called Spies in Disguise and has other film roles scheduled as well. In addition to acting and writing, he has participated in the entertainment world and various other ways including hosting and master of ceremonies duties as well as sitting down for interviews to promote his curated albums or just to be in discussions about the world of hip-hop.
DJ Khaled Net Worth
As for total net worth, the 43-year-old entertainer is expected to be worth somewhere around $35 million right now. He has so many titles and though so many different things within the music industry that would be impossible to break those down to see exactly where his money comes from.
However, most of the money that he has earned has come from the albums that he has produced which have come out year after year since the very first one like clockwork.
These curated albums are created in partnership with some of the most well-known hip-hop artists currently on the market. When you combine their talent with Khaled’s songwriting abilities and production advice, the result seems to be an album that is going to sell and singles that are going to be chart toppers.
The bottom line is that the American- Palestinian record producer, DJ, songwriter and entertainment mogul has had more success than many of the other hip-hop artists have had.
By combining his knowledge of the hip-hop world along with what he has learned about music and what makes a good song, DJ Khaled has become one of the most well-known names in the music industry and one of the most successful people in the hip-hop industry today. There is no doubt they will continue to influence the industry for years to come as well.
DJ Khaled Quotes
You gotta water your plants. Nobody can water them for you.
At the end of the day, I understand that life has road blocks, and life is like school – you’ll be tested; we gotta pass it.
Love is the most powerful thing in the world, and you know, what love brings is joy.
I’ve been blessed to be somebody that’s been climbing that success mountain top for years of hard work, you know, but now it’s all connecting. And now, the whole world is watching, you know what I’m saying, and it feels good ’cause it’s good energy. This is all positive vibes, and good vibes and good energy, so it feels incredible.
‘They’ are the people that don’t believe in you, that say that you won’t succeed. We stay away from ‘They.’
Sometimes, you might meet somebody that you love that’s turning into a ‘they.’ My key is invite them to Miami and take them to the ocean and let them jump off the boat in the ocean, on the sand bar, and cleanse off and pray and then go take a shower, and hopefully the ‘they’ is out of you.
I feel like people can relate to me because we all go through wins and roadblocks and passion and pain, and it’s a vibe.
I feel real good because it’s about representing the young world and how to uplift each other and how to push us to be greater and make sure we don’t fall or get trapped or get in trouble, you know what I mean. Stay focused, you know what I mean.
Everyone I look up to is bringing me into the tech world. You’d be surprised by all the music people in it, invested in it.
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