Eventually he got his own radio show and became a member of Terror Squad, even producing actual beats on their 2004 album True Story (catch a skinnier version of Khaled in the “Lean Back” video). Like those guys, Khaled made his way to Miami, where he leveraged a pirate radio career into a job on Miami station WEDR alongside 2 Live Crew’s Luther Campbell. He did it how anybody does it: by networking like crazy.Īs a teen in New Orleans, before getting started as a soundclash DJ, Khaled worked at the music shop Odyssey Records according to Ben Westhoff’s book Dirty South, he was present on the day when Lil Wayne met Birdman.
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Who wouldn’t want encouragement to burst so charismatically from their phone display? Who hasn’t absentmindedly shouted “Lion!” in the midst of an unrelated activity? Khaled’s first major key to success, though, was putting himself in position to flourish. The character he inhabits in public life - the enthusiastic motivational speaker who will pump you up by relentlessly reminding you that “they don’t want you” to achieve your chosen objective, whether that’s eating breakfast or having a bigger pool than Kanye - is contagiously likable and extremely fun to parody. If you understand today’s celebrity economy at all, you understand how Khaled’s persona functions.
#JEREMIH LOVE DONT CHANGE WHAT YEAR TV#
And even before his Snapchat stardom put him on Ellen, Nightline, and other TV shows your parents watch, he was making millions by recruiting rap’s biggest superstars to appear on titanic posse cuts - a curatorial carnival barker à la Funkmaster Flex and DJ Drama, but bigger, louder, and more up-front. Khaled is a self-perpetuating cult of personality, a human meme, an emoji empire waiting to happen. More acutely, he’s the kind of famous-for-being-famous that could only happen in this decade, after the proliferation of social media made it possible to turn your life into a 24/7 TV show. But still, like, what does duder do?Īt this point Khaled - born Khaled Mohamed Khaled in New Orleans almost 41 years ago - is one of those 21st century anomalies who’s famous for being famous. He coins catchphrases: “Another one!” “Bless up!” “Congratulations, you played yourself!” He tirelessly chronicles his daily exploits on Snapchat - per The New York Times, as of last December about 2 million people were witnessing his every inspirational platitude and misguided jet ski adventure - and parlays his increasing notoriety into new levels of fame. He makes appearances at plentiful celebrity events and photo-ops.
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He shouts his name on XXXL anthems featuring the world’s most famous rappers.