The Keys Page 7

  But, boy, that moment didn’t come easy. As my radio career grew I was becoming renowned for breaking records from all over the country in Miami. At that point it was understood that if you had a record break in this city, DJ Khaled had a hand in it. That was how influential my show had become. It’s not only that I have the ear for hits, it’s that I can see the vision early. I play what I know the people want, but if I love something passionately that’s when I go all out. I’ll never forget when E-Class, the CEO of Poe Boy Entertainment, came through and brought me “Hustlin’.” I was on the radio and the minute I played it I loved it so much I played it for two hours straight. I knew the record was important. I played it and played it again, and after those two hours they suspended me from the radio because I was breaking all the rules and violating protocol. But you couldn’t tell me nothing. I just kept saying to my program director that this wasn’t about one artist. This was big for the city. I love Miami and the culture here. It’s a family; from Trick Daddy to Trina, Flo Rida to Pitbull, the list goes on, and we support each other and we show love. Especially since Trick Daddy’s story came before all of us and we have to continue that tradition and pay homage to Dade County.

  I believed passionately that it was crucial for me to endorse Miami to everyone who would listen. They told me I’d get suspended for playing it again, so guess what? I played it again. And when I got off suspension I played it again—for two hours—and got suspended again. Every time I got off suspension I just waved that flag for Miami and played the record. This kept going and going and they were ready to fire me but I knew that I had to stand up for what I believed in. This was a storm that needed to be endured.

  So when my single “We Takin’ Over” came out and we were shooting that video, having Ross beside me, my brother who had climbed this mountain with me, was so meaningful. We’ve been in this together supporting each other and bigging up this city—me, Ross, E-Class, and Gucci Pucci—for so long, and it’s better to have these people share the wins than go it alone. In fact, E-Class, who’s a boss, is my business partner in my restaurant Finga Licking. We’ve all been in the trenches together, from the mud to marble floors.

  That record was a movement. And it’s so special to me because everybody came through. Akon, T.I., Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, Lil Wayne…everybody was in that video. It didn’t matter where you were from; if you were at the height of the game you were on this record. And the vibe was incredible. Nobody was trying to outdo anybody; it was all pure love. If your friends got love for you, your friends will be happy for you when you succeed. That’s the difference between we and “they.” It’s everyone sharing the win. Because wins are happier when you share them. Not only that, wins are bigger when you share them—not smaller. People get this wrong all the time.

  For that record there are just so many legendary people. It’s what made that record an anthem. Think about it: I had Akon when he was at peak pop culture. He’d crossed over, and trying to get a clearance for him, that’s a whole other story, but it came through. At the end of the day you can’t deny good music. All these huge artists fight for me to get these clearances, and I have good relationships with the rest of the moguls, so it works out. But let me tell you, in this industry there’s always something when it comes to clearances. If you think it’s hard to get people to send verses, it’s doubly hard to get them to show up for the video shoot and it’s five thousand times harder to get clearances. You can lose the record and your mind talking to the label, the label’s lawyers, the artist’s lawyers—more attorneys than you can ever imagine—and someone always tries to change the deal at the last possible second. The negotiations are endless even if the artist is a friend and signs off on it. Sometimes not being selfish with the wins means you even have to fight to share the win. Especially if you want to make a statement like how Miami’s doing it big. But making the most ambitious collaborations in the history of music is what I do. It’s all I do. “We Takin’ Over” was significant because it validated on a global scale that big collaborations are key for me. I knew I wanted to be an artist and I wanted to be in hip-hop, but it’s not like I was going to start writing rhymes. This was the answer. You might not have the exact talent that other people around you have, but you might have another talent. In my case I have a few talents that work together. I have that ear—I know a hit when I hear one. But not only that; I see the hit like it’s a blueprint. I know what components I have to bring together so we can share the win. I know who needs to go where—and how they should sound—in order to make that win enormous. Sharing the win is about chemistry. I used to make beats, but now when I say I’m a producer I mean I make sure all the right people come together. I might hear something or I might take a skeleton of an idea and then visualize where all the pieces need to go. When I say my music is like a movie it’s because it’s big. It has that cinema vibe to it. Especially the videos, but it’s also because it’s a huge production.

  I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a movie set, but sometimes it’s a whole city coming together to make something amazing. There’s a lot of parts happening at the same time. And it’s a lot of jobs. It’s also a lot of stress, but I get to make something powerful with my friends, so it’s worth it. It’s what I do for the culture and it’s what I do for Miami—my home.

  You can see my competitive spirit manifest itself in so many aspects of my career. From my collaborations to my sneaker collection—you can see testaments to my “Go harder” philosophy. If “they” say I can’t get summer Jordan 3s, then I’ll make sure to get summer Jordan 3s. And don’t even get me started on the Eminem 4s. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of one or one of three hundred; if I want something I’m going to get it.

  This is the same drive and positivity I apply to every single one of my collaborations. I want people to see that I can get the rarest, hugest names and the most important voices in one place. Fan Luv knows I go the extra mile to make sure the anthem features dream collaborations. That’s what I mean by “Go harder”—go harder than anybody else. Always. It doesn’t matter how big you get—you can’t be afraid to keep taking risks and never be afraid that people will say no. Every time I make a new record I write down a list of the special cloths I want a verse from. That’s my dream list—a handful of names that I haven’t been able to convince but that I know one day I’ll get. They might always say no or they might change the subject, but I will keep going. Create a list of your own if you need to really focus—if you want to picture your goal—but remember that the only thing standing in the way of go is ego.

  DJ KHALED ALWAYS had that raw energy, that vibe that would lift any track he was playing to a new height. It’s great to see Khaled where he is. I was always impressed at how much he loved and embraced our Jamaican culture.

  —Stephen Marley, Grammy-winning recording artist

  KEEP TWO ROOMS COOKING AT THE SAME TIME

  You already know I do every job. I’m a producer, an artist, a CEO—everything—so I know how the machine works when it comes to new music. I’m a boss, so I don’t ever get to just be the artist. Other artists might get to imagine themselves floating in outer space, making music, and that’s beautiful, but I know what it takes for the whole team to take the product to the next level. I understand the machine; I am the machine. I know they can’t do their magic until they have the music. I have successes because I overstand both sides.

  When I’m in the studio I keep two rooms cooking at the same time. Sometimes when it’s crunch time, I’ll be cooking in five rooms. You’ve got to. Meaning as in, I keep that special energy going in as many rooms as needed, and that’s a lot of energy. Plus, we hustle around the clock. Sometimes cookin’ in two rooms is about having multiple producers finessing tracks in multiple rooms, but sometimes it’s about doing as much as you can while you can. When I’m on the road I might be far away from my studio, We The Best Studios, but I always have gear on the tour bus and I always book studios in every city. I’m touring but
I’m also recording. It’s about being an artist but also a mogul at the same time. It’s about making anthems for stadiums but also having restaurants or being in movies to diversify the enterprise.

  Sometimes I’ll have an hour of sleep, work all day, go to a meeting, then go to the gym, all while I’m on tour in a new city with all these different people that I got to talk to. But if you know me and my team, you’ll see how I have my engineer and my director and my photographer with me the whole time.

  I care about my career. And I care about my team’s careers, so we have to stay alert. This is a twenty-four-hour job that we are blessed to have. Let’s get our rest when we need to get our rest, but if it’s only ten at night, let’s get it in. There’s no such thing as there’s nothing to do. Let’s create something to do. You have to keep cooking when you’re hot, and right now we’re hot.

  I love making music. The music business sometimes drains me because I just want to get to the music, but when you’re in my position you’ve got to get to the business first. That’s just how it works. I talk to lawyers every day and every night as an executive. I have artists and producers, so I have to deal with all their deals besides doing my own stuff, which results in a lot of calls and meetings. Sometimes cooking in two rooms is doing two jobs at the same time—jobs that are both important and interconnected. Do one well and the other one prospers, which of course means that you’ve got to go hard at both.

  My team knows all about the benefits of this advice. My artists, my producers, my directors, my people—they always want to do something on the side-hustle tip, too. That’s how you keep business boomin’. You got to work around the clock in as many places as possible. “They” don’t want me to win, so I’m going to make sure I have every type of win imaginable. It’s why I have a popular restaurant business, Finga Licking, and why I have my own headphones. It’s absolutely the reason behind why I do all of the We The Best merchandise myself. I see no benefits in outsourcing it to some random third party that we have to pay for the service.

  I’m an artist, but managing my own artists, hosting a radio show, and pursuing TV deals and book deals are all part of the larger picture. When I say I’m a mogul I mean it. Keeping two rooms cookin’ at the same time keeps your mind sharp because you’re never solving the same problem twice. It also puts you in a position where you’re keeping track of what’s going on in different worlds. Following this philosophy is the foundation of my career.

  Collaborations have a lot of parts but learning how to create the best, most iconic wins comes from my love of hip-hop and my love of reggae and dancehall. In the early days when I was still flying to Jamaica all the time I would throw parties and participate in soundclashes there. A soundclash is essentially a huge contest with rivaling crews or sound systems, and my DJing experience always made me a vicious contender. My mic game and energy have always been infectious, but the part of the soundclash where I was just unstoppable was getting the most exclusive dubplates. A dub is a one-of-one recording of a hit song that’s re-recorded with a new beat and new lyrics that show the competition how relentless you are at getting what you want. The dubs I have with Sizzla, Buju Banton, Capleton, Bounty Killer, and Beres Hammond are the stuff of legend, but where I’d stand out is that I would mix my love of hip-hop and reggae.

  Nobody else would take Buju and throw him on top of a DMX Ruff Ryders track. That was like taking the power of two huge hits that were dominating radio at the time and combining them. Not only that, but if you’ve seen what I’ll go through to get a verse, you know my tracks were always on the next level. A rivaling sound system might also have had a Buju Banton dub on a classic riddim. I’d go out, get my own, but mine would feature the Marleys on it. This is the point of the soundclash; people couldn’t believe what I’d done. Everybody lost their mind. It was signed, sealed, and delivered—I won. This is the attitude that I bring to everything. I don’t just put my crew all on the same song because that’s what’s expected of me. I put only the best, most powerful people together on a song with the same kind of massive chemistry. This is what producing and making music means to me.

  I’m never only doing one thing the same way. If you do that your ideas start becoming routine, and things begin to feel stale. People do this for different reasons. Sometimes it’s because of ego. They might think the way they do it is the only right way, and if it worked before, why fix it? But keeping everything exactly as it ever was has never been a sustainable business model. Change always comes. Dinosaurs die.

  But another reason people avoid cooking in two rooms is fear. It can be hard for people to put themselves out there, to try something new. I always knew I wanted to act, and in 2002 I had the opportunity to be in a movie; I was in the iconic Jamaican film Shottas. It was amazing, even if it was a small part, and now that I’m being asked to consider bigger roles, I’m excited. But all this presents a different kind of pressure. I know these directors don’t know what to expect. They don’t work in hip-hop and have never met anyone like me, and they don’t know the energy. So I have to tell them, “Look, just give me the opportunity. There’s nothing to even talk about; you want me to do a screen test? I’ll do a screen test. You need me to read a script? Throw me the script—what’s the holdup?” I don’t stand there telling them I’m too good to read the script. If you’re walking into something new and you’re cookin’ it up in a whole different kind of room, people are going to ask you to do things. They don’t know your reputation, but they will.

  Don’t let their test stand in your way. Show them your natural talent. And if you have to do it a few times for them to see it, don’t be embarrassed; just do it. Ask all the questions you need to and make sure you do it right. Keep your attitude positive. Get your foot in the door and then dominate. It’s just like any kind of industry.

  Do good business, but do it all. If you have a focused vision that has a lot of moving parts, that’s beautiful. Don’t invest all your energy in one place. It’s like financial investments—spread it around. Secure all types of bags. More rooms equal more success, so be kind to the people around you, like your team, and support them and let them cook, too. There’s no limit on success. If they have a win that they need my help with, of course I will be there. Cooking in two rooms means being in the trenches in more than one situation. That’s called growth and loyalty and it’s a major key.

  Certain Rasta beliefs are amazing to me, like those of Emperor Haile Selassie. He was believed to be the King of Kings, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and he had all these pet lions. You’d see pictures of him petting these lions with long manes, and he was even believed to be able to talk to them. That’s just such a powerful image, and one you’ll see as a recurring motif in a lot of my work. I love the energy and always admired those beliefs growing up.

  I grew up around a lot of Rastas and when we greet each other we’ll be like, “Lion Order,” as a sign of respect.

  Lions are the kings of the jungle and it’s a jungle out there, so you’ve got to be king. You say it to give yourself courage and to invoke that courage in others, too.

  You know my house is one of my dreams, but my garden is also one of my dreams. A garden is seasonal, with flowers that have different needs depending on the time of year. I water them and look after them as much as possible, but at the same time I’m never home. While I’m out there on the road securing the bag, my lion, the stone statue you see on my Snapchat, is the protector of my home. Lion watches over my angels and my girl and my yard and my house. My lion represents me, and I represent the lion. Lion embodies courage and power. It’s a constant reminder of what my job is when it comes to my family, but when my queen comes out and sees Lion, I want her to feel safe and know I’m coming home soon. Plus, he’s just somebody for me to talk to when I’m thinking about the pathway to more success. Lion talk is a major key, for real.

  SUCCESS DOESN’T HAPPEN by accident, but rather through deliberate daily action. Optimum wellness is the same, and is a
very important key to success. The first step toward optimum wellness is…well, a step. Khaled has made taking that first step easy, fun, entertaining, and possible through his inspirational ways. He puts aside vanity in an effort to empower the world with a feeling of inclusivity that makes everyone feel like they, too, can do it. Khaled’s step toward wellness is one that has caused a ripple around the world that will turn into a seismic shift toward conscious living, not only through conversation, but also action.

  —Marco Borges, bestselling author, trainer, and founder of 22 Days Nutrition

  TEMPTATION IS A TYPE OF “THEY”

  I take the responsibility of being a role model super seriously. You got to. I know some people don’t welcome what they feel to be added pressure, but I think it’s a blessing to be visible in this way. It’s not about creating any expectations to be perfect. It’s that being a role model helps me stay focused so that I’m deserving of Fan Luv’s love.

  Temptation is definitely a “they.” I told you “they” takes all forms in various situations, and temptation is one of the hardest things to resist. It can be anything—food, other women, drugs, or alcohol. I don’t want Fan Luv or people I respect or do business with catching me out there looking wild. The way I see it, I’m a boss—a don—and you can’t maintain that level of respect if you’re going out and looking out of control. You’ll notice that I never get drunk or wild out—that ain’t me.