“Major key,” “bless up,” and “another one” are phrases that you will almost definitely see if you scroll down the Twitter page of any high schooler at Yorktown. These funny, weird, almost non-sensical sayings come from the man who America has fallen in love with over the past month or two, DJ Khaled. But the question remains: where did this man come from?
The 40-year-old emcee, originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, has served as one of the hottest DJs in the country. He has produced tracks featuring big-time rap artists such as Drake, Lil Wayne, Future, Kanye West, Nas, Ludacris and many more. The story is simple: he has gotten all of his luxuries in life—the beautiful mansion, the embellished wristwatches, the jetskis, the personal chef, the cocoa butter–from his rap career. His debut album Listennn…the Album was released in 2006, followed by We the Best in 2007, which is one of his most famous ad-libs to date. Since then, he has released 6 albums, each with at least one Recording Industry Association of America-certified Gold single on it. So, knowing how Khaled got his money, we can now simultaneously poke fun at and admire him and his lifestyle.
The cars. The parties. The rock garden (which is constantly watered even though Khaled lives primarily in Miami, where it rains on a pretty consistent basis). All major keys. If you don’t know, DJ Khaled has recently gained arguably more fame through his “stories” on the popular social media app, Snapchat, than he has through his music. He is very inspiring through his infamous Snapchat, giving advice and daily motivation. He posts videos of him watering his garden, eating breakfast, working out, in the jacuzzi, applying cocoa butter and yes, even showering. In nearly all of these videos he talks about “keys to success” which are basically just things he does. I suspect he is hoping people will take him seriously and believe that if they follow his routine, they will attain some degree of success similar to his.
Some of Khaled’s fame can also be attributed to the jokes people make about him. One cannot go a day in school without hearing “another one” said in at least one of their classes. Last month, Khaled got lost at sea on his jet ski after a visit to fellow rap mogul Rick Ross’s Miami home. On the way back from Ross’s palace, it started to get dark, and Khaled got lost and could not see where he was going. Furthermore, riding your jet ski at night is against the law in Miami, which Khaled did not fail to mention in his snapchat journal about the events. As one could imagine, this sparked an online cry of laughter. “Did you see he got lost at sea last night??” was one of the most heard things at Yorktown on December 16th. This spurned a number of jokes made about him not being able to read signs, being an idiot, etc.
In all honesty, I do not believe that DJ Khaled deserves all the grief he gets for his social media. A major reason social media was invented was so that celebrities and artists could get in touch with their fans easier, and we can now see that effect that it has had in this recent uproar with Khaled. We are taken into almost every step of his daily life, from wake-up to goodnight. While he does post a few “stories” every hour or so (very irregular), you can tell that he is truly enjoying life and relishing every moment of it. While it may seem like he is just living it up in the luxuries of Miami, he shows that he genuinely cares about the people who made him this famous; after all, where would he be without us?
Another reason I think people enjoy Khaled so much is because he is a deviation from the norm. People (myself included) would not have guessed that a man like Khaled would be a rap millionaire if they saw him on the street. He looks like any other 40-year-old man. I think that this is another factor which contributes to Khaled’s character. He seems friendly, and unlike other people in his field, approachable. His motivating messages on his “stories” are directed towards his fan base. This again shows that he cares about the people who follow him, and he wants them to get a little taste of success from his own life so they can see what hard work can do for someone. Therefore, I truly think that, despite all of the jokes circulating around Khaled in the past month or two, he is a truly admirable person with a strong work and business ethic, and genial attitude towards the way he goes about his life.
