Khaled Mohamed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), better known as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, songwriter, record producer and media personality.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Khaled first gained prominence as a radio host in the 1990s on Miami hip hop station 99 Jamz. His popularity later prompted hip hop group Terror Squad to hire Khaled as the DJ for their live performances. After gaining some production credits on the group’s material, Khaled then transitioned into curating albums, releasing his debut studio album Listennn… the Album in 2006, which earned gold certification.
He followed that up with the album We the Best (2007), which contained the top 20 single “I’m So Hood”. His subsequent two releases — We Global (2008) and Victory (2010) — were released after the founding of Khaled’s record label We the Best Music Group. Both albums charted within the top ten on the US Billboard 200, with the latter containing the single “All I Do Is Win”, which was eventually certified triple platinum.
His fifth studio album We the Best Forever (2011) also saw similar commercial success, and helped bring Khaled to international prominence, as it featured the song “I’m on One”, which became his first top ten hit. His sixth and seventh album, Kiss the Ring (2012) and Suffering from Success (2013), charted in the top ten on the Billboard 200, and his eighth studio album, I Changed a Lot (2015), peaked at number 12.
In 2015 and early 2016, Khaled gained worldwide attention as a media personality, and subsequently attained a large following on social media. This foresaw the release of his ninth studio album Major Key in 2016. The album attained wholesale critical and commercial success; it debuted atop the Billboard 200, it was certified gold, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. He released his tenth studio album, Grateful, in 2017, which contained the singles “I’m the One” and “Wild Thoughts”, which charted at number one and number two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and was also certified platinum. His eleventh album, Father of Asahd, was released in 2019; it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200.
Outside of music, Khaled has also gained success as a writer, with his book The Keys featuring on the New York Times Best Seller list. He has also featured as an actor, starring in Spies in Disguise (2019), and is due to appear in Bad Boys for Life (2020).