DJ Khaled Essentials

DJ Khaled is a one-man circus. He got his start as the preening ringmaster of Miami hip-hop radio before parlaying that renown into a recording career that brought the genre’s biggest names under his ever-expanding tent. From taut club bangers like 2020’s “I’m on One” (featuring Lil Wayne, Drake, and Rick Ross) to the kaleidoscopic trap slurp of 2016’s “I Got the Keys” (with JAŸ-Z and Future), Khaled creates tracks that are often maddeningly addictive. No wonder he has been called “the hip-hop Quincy Jones”: he has consistently demonstrated a knack for connecting the right superstar talent with the right tracks, matching his ambition with equal amounts of hustle, swagger, and exuberance. And his influence continues to grow, with Khaled assembling Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne for the 2017 blockbuster “I’m the One” before answering it immediately with the Rhianna/Bryson Tiller teamup “Wild Thoughts.” He tapped Drake for the simultaneous lockdown hits “POPSTAR” and “GREECE” in 2020, and again for 2022’s life-affirming “STAYING ALIVE” (also featuring Lil Baby). When Khaled regularly belts out such self-hyping catchphrases as “another one” on hit after hit, it simply means he knows exactly how good he is at this.