DJ Khaled

CTL-E-5354 · Person · musician · 2006–present

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

DJ Khaled, born Khaled Mohamed Khaled on November 26, 1975, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Palestinian immigrant parents, is an American DJ, record producer, executive, and media personality who built a career as hip-hop's great convener. Raised around his parents' Arabic music and early rap and soul, he worked in New Orleans record stores, met Birdman and Lil Wayne in the early 1990s, and moved through Miami pirate and commercial radio, notably WEDR 99 Jamz, and a DJ role with Terror Squad, before releasing his debut Listennn... the Album in 2006. He founded We the Best Music Group and served as president of Def Jam South from 2009. His albums became star-stacked events: Major Key (2016) was his first Billboard 200 number one, Grateful (2017) repeated the feat behind the Hot 100 number one 'I'm the One,' and Father of Asahd (2019) brought his first Grammy win. Khaled Khaled (2021) and God Did (2022) gave him four Billboard 200 number ones in total, while his motivational social-media presence and book The Keys extended his reach well beyond records.

The record

• Also known as: Khaled Mohamed Khaled, Khaled Khaled

Notes

Statistics: 1 Grammy win from 10 nominations (Grammy.com artist page, accessed 2026-10-15), the win being Best Rap/Sung Performance for 'Higher' with Nipsey Hussle and John Legend at the 62nd Grammys in 2020 · 4 Billboard 200 No. 1 albums — Major Key (2016), Grateful (2017), Khaled Khaled (2021) and God Did (2022) (AllMusic biography) · God Did (2022) earned 5 nominations at the 65th Grammys including Song of the Year and Best Rap Song for its title track; some secondary reports count only the title track's 3 nominations — the 5 figure is the album-wide Grammy.com count and is used here · Curator's Judgment: DRAFT — for founder review: Khaled's instrument is the room — he authors records by assembling other stars, and CTL should credit that curatorial production honestly rather than forcing him into a rapper or beatmaker box. His Palestinian-American, New Orleans-to-Miami route also widens the graph's map of Black music's collaborators and infrastructure. · Photo slot: CLEARED CANDIDATE — Wikimedia Commons File:DJ Khaled at 2018 MTV VMAs.jpg, MTV UK, CC BY 3.0, license verified from Commons API metadata on 2026-10-15; direct URL https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/DJ_Khaled_at_2018_MTV_VMAs.jpg; not downloaded — visual pass follows merge per standing pattern.

Relationships

• Jay-Z — collaborated with
  Jay-Z featured on DJ Khaled's 'GOD DID' title track (2022), alongside Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy.

Sources

• Grammy.com, "DJ Khaled Grammy Awards and Nominations, Song & Bio" — https://www.grammy.com/artists/dj-khaled/1860/ (primary source)
• Grammy.com, "DJ Khaled, Nipsey Hussle And John Legend Win Best Rap/Sung Performance For 'Higher' | 2020 GRAMMYs" — https://www.grammy.com/news/dj-khaled-nipsey-hussle-and-john-legend-win-best-rapsung-performance-higher-2020/ (primary source)
• AllMusic, "DJ Khaled — Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews" — https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dj-khaled-mn0000660151/awards

Record CTL-E-5354 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 3 sources (2 primary) · 1 mapped relationship · CTL research: PPL-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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