Making his first appearance in 2007 with his single “We Takin’ Over,” Miami-based producer Khaled Mohamed Khaled, commonly known by his stage name DJ Khaled, did not exactly sweep the nation off its feet with the impression of his debut, Listennn… the Album.
Flash forward a couple of albums later, which were abundant with extremely respected artists and some hits here and there, Khaled still was not at the level of fame or respect he desired. Although he had clear connections with high ranking celebrity profiles, the world did not view him as the rap icon he aspired to become.
Slowly but surely, Khaled was losing his glamour and fading into the deep trenches of the “forgotten playlists” territory.
That was until his comical mispronunciation of words and unforgettable catchphrases swept through social media and across many home feeds. Originating with Vine, over a million viewers watched him mispronounce “jewelry” and over 26 million people feasted their eyes upon Khaled repeating “another one.”
Thousands of shares later, Khaled rebranded himself as the rap artist that brought laughter and amusement into the lives of many. However, that image did not hold up for very long.
After twitter account Kozza (run by NYC band Andy Suzuki & The Method) assisted Khaled in creating the video “DJ Khaled’s Words of Wisdom,” Khaled’s speech became a motivational icon– as did he. The internet spread his phrases of encouragement ranging from “you smart,” to “I appreciate you.”
On October 2nd, DJ Khaled joined the social media platform Snapchat and continued the journey of daily success by recording the events taking place in his life. Khaled showed his genuine admiration of life simply by the means of recording plants outside his hotels, advising his viewers to stop for a second and appreciate the living greenery around them.
The most memorable Snap contains a lost Khaled on a jet ski, adrift at sea in pitch black water. Although the darkness of the night had an alarming and uneasy affect on him, he reminded himself and his fans that “the key is to make it [to land], the key is to never give up.”
Creating another symbol of his own, Khaled refers to people with negative influences and bad vibes as “they,” continually warning his Snapchat viewers to stay away from the road that “they” travel.
Khaled transformed his 2007 album named “We The Best” into a trademark for his merchandise store, “We the Best Store.” Featuring an array of quotes said by none other than the man himself; he proved that his words of wisdom stuck with people to the point where they’d wear it out in public.
The Miami icon —who received the key to Miami after donating $5,000 to Citrus Grove Middle School’s music program — has no plans of stopping his inspirational rampage of success as he informs his loyal fans of musical projects he has coming for the future.
If asked, DJ Khaled would claim that he has yet to reach the top of his ladder to success. But with each step up he takes lies another key to success that he’d be eager to reveal to his fans. Until then, his fans await to receive “another one.”
