The Keys Page 8
On the occasions that I see people I know out there doing all the crazy stuff, I’m disappointed. I don’t know why someone would play themselves in front of a live audience and a sea of iPhones. Those images and that footage can live forever. Mess around at the wrong time, and the visual of you playing yourself could become a meme. People don’t have privacy anymore, even without going out in public and acting up in front of all them cameras. I’ve been in the game for over twenty years, but I don’t have drama or rumors about my personal life out there. Why? Because when it comes to drugs and getting drunk or women, I don’t mess with it. I’ve always been the type of person who’s on point. You never know who’s out there so I don’t advertise any signs of weakness. But it’s not just about who’s watching; discipline has to happen all the time, or at least most of the time, and that’s just for yourself. I’m not trying to tell anyone what they can and can’t do, or that everything is bad. God gave man the ability to choose—free will is a beautiful thing. I drink to celebrate, but I don’t get drunk. That’s the difference. I always tell you to celebrate responsibly, and that’s what I mean. I’m going to be honest with you: Once you get to be a boss, you really start thinking about your time in a different way. I make sure I spend time at home with my family and resting so that I can make the best decisions. Even when I’m out celebrating, I might do it to glorify the successes of the people around me. It’s good for your team to have fun and feel the moment and get hyped about the next win.
But for me, even while I celebrate I’m thinking about the next win. When I’m in my sanctuary on my hammock or in my Jacuzzi, I’m genuinely relaxed, but if I’m in a nightclub or out at a party, I’m watching everything.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy life, but I don’t have time for regrets. Plus, I’ve seen drugs kill ambition, ruin reputations, and even destroy God-given genius. Let me tell you, when I think about the temptations that have ruined talent, it breaks my heart.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the game for so long or because my work has always been my passion, but I’ve always kept my eye on the bag. My whole life is dedicated to making sure that people are listening to incredible music and having fun. When I throw parties or DJ, I make sure to tear it up. But I’m older now, and even though I never thought I’d be the type of person to tell the young world to be careful, I know I need to tell all of you not to fall in the trap. Once you fall in the trap, you have to invest so much time and energy getting out. And that’s if you even get out. If you get caught up too early, that’s not securing the bag.
Of course I know that when you’re young you think you’re going to live forever and that your mistakes can get fixed. Be free to make mistakes. Go big. Learn. But don’t make that one mistake that stops you from seeing the opportunity that changes your life. Getting caught up in drugs and alcohol is a type of mistake that makes it too easy to make the next hundred mistakes. Don’t play yourself at the worst possible time. Don’t lose the most important years of school or work that might lead you to the biggest wins of your life. Timing is everything. I’m grateful because my family raised me right. I never did drugs. I never tried Molly, pills, none of that. I truly believe it’s always easier to say no from the beginning than to try to say it later. I always had different interests. Winning, to me, is the ultimate good time. That might sound corny, but it’s true.
I know that resisting is a challenge, and it’s okay to be curious about what it’s like, but I just think of the bigger picture. The bigger picture is paradise—my backyard, my musical garden, being home by the ocean; that’s paradise to me. Now that I have it, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to it. You got to protect the good in your life.
When you’re young you might be distracted by all the fun you think you’re missing out on, but keep your mind on where you want to be next. Put your head down and work. Besides, drugs are serious. It’s not just about people watching and judging you; drugs are the devil. I don’t want the devil in me.
God gave you life, and life is a blessing. When I read about all the young people who lose their lives and are taken too early, it makes me think. I think about all the great accomplishments they could have experienced. I think about all the amazing music, art, or technology they could have made, or the books they could have written. All this knowledge that makes the world richer is gone. They could have been the next Obama, the next Oprah, the next person who is so special that we don’t even know their name yet! You’ve got to watch your back out there, and it’s always easier to do it when you’re not all messed up.
If you want to be treated like a boss, you’ve got to look the part. Get a fresh cut twice a week. In fact, when I’m having a significant week sometimes I get three haircuts. Taking a half hour just for myself to think about life lends me a sharper perspective on the upcoming deals. Look, I know how it is when you’re trying to put food on the table, and in those moments a haircut can feel like a luxury or an unnecessary expense, but my point is: Make time. Even if it’s just going to see your boy who knows how to cut hair, go get a shape-up. Make grooming part of your ritual. It’s like putting your game face on; it builds confidence and gets your mind in the right zone. On that note, cocoa butter is also a major key when it comes to self-care. People always ask me why I smell so good, and the answer is Palmer’s cocoa butter. I don’t wear cologne.
Being mindful about presentation doesn’t mean that everyone is shallow or has vanity problems, or that you need to change everything about your appearance to fit in. You’ve got to put in work and be smart and humble, but humans make snap judgments, so don’t get in your own way. Don’t get dismissed based on something as amateur as looking sloppy. Cloth talk can happen when you least expect it, and if your appearance looks put together, you’ll feel more confident in your ideas. Your thoughts will be more focused and you won’t be distracted.
So get a fresh cut twice a week and definitely before an executive decision. And when you’re ready and you graduate to the next level, get a pedicure and a manicure once a week, too.
I IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED with Khaled’s energy and charisma—he’s funny, open, and real. We laughed together and began planning to build his empire, but of course twenty minutes later, five hundred of his fans showed up. If that doesn’t confirm the power of his connection with his audience, I don’t know what does.
—Jeremy Zimmer, CEO, United Talent Agency
FAN LUV
I call my fans Fan Luv because that’s the feeling I get when they’re around—love. For real. Fan Luv is a definite blessing, and loving Fan Luv is a major key. For me, it’s an easy key, because that’s just my personality. I love meeting new people. When Fan Luv happens, I’m just grateful. It doesn’t matter if I’m in a meeting or I’m in a restaurant eating; if you try to meet me, I will try to meet you. Everybody needs inspiration, and my inspiration is life, but it’s really my fans and my family who inspire me to go hard. Every time I see Fan Luv it’s a reminder to go in. And I want them to do the same. Fan Luv is everything to me, for real. That’s always been the case, but these past few years I’ve come to understand how powerful Fan Luv can really be.
The thing about me is that I’m usually on the road every year from February until November. That’s the life of a DJ and an artist and it’s been my working life for about as long as I can remember. When we’re just on the road—hustling, touring, being in the studio, making albums, dropping records—the months take on a certain rhythm and the cities and states blur by. Every year we do it again, just bigger, but I make it a point to be home for the holidays. My birthday’s during Thanksgiving time (shout-out to Sagittariuses!) and usually the buildings, meaning the executives and the music labels, shut down from around Thanksgiving to Christmas. So I come home and chill.
This is when I just do me—working in the studio, spending as much time as possible in my musical garden, lounging in the hammock, and for the first time last year I was Snapchatting. Snapchat is a major key and a game-cha
nger, but what I like about it most is that it’s not about the angle or editing or lighting or how good you look, it’s just you for ten seconds being real with your fans.
So I’m Snapchatting, vibing, and people are hitting me up with feedback like, “Yo, Khaled, I love your Snapchat!” I even get a call from Ed Sheeran. He’s like, “Lion!” Just saying lion into my phone, and I’m like, “Oh, Ed, word. You know about that lion.” And he’s telling me he loves my energy, and I’m like, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”
One day I’m out there Jet Skiing because I love the ocean. Since Rick Ross lives nearby on the water I go over there on my Jet Ski for lunch. We’re having a good time, but when I start heading back to my house I realize it’s getting dark. Before long it’s pitch-black and I get lost. I’m just out there by myself, using the light on my phone to see. Meanwhile, I’m keeping my sense of humor and Snapchatting because I’ve got to stay focused and because I won’t lie to you, I was getting a little scared.
Major key for real: Don’t drive your Jet Ski in the dark.
Finally I make it home, God bless, and my phone’s acting crazy. Of course it broke because of all that salt water getting into it. So the next day I go to the Apple Store in my swim trunks and my flip-flops and since I’m DJ Khaled, I get love. People ask for pictures and autographs, and I’m blessed to have that in my career, but while I’m at the Apple Store getting my phone fixed I turn around to take a snap and realize that the whole mall is crammed inside the store with me. This was my first time coming out of the house because I was on some hibernation vibes, so I thought this was strange. I’m wondering what’s going on and looking around thinking Justin Bieber is in the store or something. But then a few kids start talking to me and then a few more and I figure out that it’s Fan Luv, but just with a new kind of energy. There were just so many of them, and they had all been watching my Snapchat. Come to find out some of them even hit up the coast guard to call a search party for me. All these people were saying my name and calling themselves “Fan Luv” and they’re talking about my flowers and my Jet Skis and I’m just blown away.
Still, that was home, and I’m used to a certain amount of attention in Miami, so it wasn’t until I went to Vegas to DJ at Tao for New Year’s Eve that I knew things had really changed. I don’t fly, so I get there on my tour bus and I get up to the hotel and I walk into the lobby and a few people are like, “Yo, Khaled! Yo, Khaled! Yo, Khaled!” and I’m like, “Love. Love. Love,” just giving pounds and walking through because I’m exhausted. I go to my room to sleep and don’t really think anything of it.
When I wake up, I’m like, “Let’s go test this vibe; I’m in Vegas.” So I come downstairs and there’s a huge crowd of people by the elevator; I just walk through and the owner of the club is like, “Yo, you can’t come out here.” And I don’t get it. It was my second year doing this event so I just look at him like he’s confused and keep it moving. That’s when—boom—I see it. It’s just a wall of Fan Luv. Just a whole sea of people wanting to meet me and I’m just humbled by the intensity of their love.
I tell people all the time that Snapchat changed my life. I’ve been on the covers of business magazines and on talk shows about it. Tech people ask me how it is that I became such a huge force on the app but what I need everyone to overstand is that social media is nothing without people. It’s not that Snapchat changed my life, Fan Luv changed my life. That’s why no matter what I’m doing, where I go, or how big I get, I will never take Fan Luv for granted. My team gets on me all the time because I take so long getting from place to place because I’m shaking as many hands as possible and taking as many selfies as possible, but I can’t stop. Some of my closest friends think I’m crazy for letting Fan Luv into my life but I just remember that Fan Luv helps me. When I was lost—literally lost—they gave me strength and guidance. How can I ever forget or be ungrateful about everything they’ve done for me? So I love Fan Luv and will always love Fan Luv. There’s no other way. So don’t ride your Jet Ski in the dark, but if you do, make sure you have your phone because that flashlight is a key. But the real major key? Make sure you’ve got good people looking out for you.
“They” don’t want you to have a lot of pillows, so I make sure to have a lot of pillows. It is a major key to rest your greatness.
Pillows are important. When you sleep, you’re supposed to sleep like a king or a queen, and every time you turn there should be something comfortable to greet you. And that softness reminds all the parts of your body that it’s time to relax. You’ve seen me work. You know I’m always either in the studio or on tour. I’m always cooking something or pushing myself at the gym, so no matter if I’ve got one hour or two hours or four hours, I make sure I sleep right.
A lot of us don’t have a lot of pillows. I didn’t have a lot of pillows growing up. Let me tell you, I had no pillows when I slept in that Honda. Plus, when I got an apartment all I had was my music, and I had no pillows. I would have my one sheet and I’d rest my head on records. I don’t recommend it. So you know one of the first things I did when the wire hit was get a couple pillows. Everyone has a different idea of luxury when they first get a little money. One person might only wear brand-new sweat socks every single day. Another might eat Cheesecake Factory for every meal for like a month. Me, I got a lot of pillows. They remind me of when I didn’t have pillows, so I’m grateful for all of them.
When you’re a self-made mogul, the temptation to work all the time no matter how tired you feel is high. Ten years ago you couldn’t tell me nothing. I wouldn’t sleep for days. Now, I’m not going to lie to you, when the pressure is on and I’m recording an album or planning the next major deal, I might work thirty hours straight, but I don’t make a habit of it. Pillows are like the angels of my bedroom.
FOR FAR TOO long, I subscribed to a very flawed definition, buying into our collective delusion that burning out is the necessary price for accomplishment and success. Too many years of this led to my painful wake-up call: Sleep-deprived and exhausted, I fainted, hit my head on my desk, and broke my cheekbone. I was on the cover of magazines and had been chosen by Time as one of the world’s one hundred most influential people. But after my fall I had to ask myself, was this what success looked like? Was this the life I wanted?
We all want to perform at the top of our game, every day—to “be great and keep being great,” as Khaled puts it. For me, a more sustainable and fulfilling kind of success was understanding that not only is there no trade-off between living a well-rounded life and high performance, performance is actually improved when our lives include time for rest and renewal. It’s a major key.
—Arianna Huffington, bestselling author and founder of the Huffington Post
INSPIRE THE YOUNG WORLD
There’s never been a time when a young king or a young queen approached me in the street that it didn’t make me smile. Now, I have love for all of Fan Luv, no matter your age, but if I get to have an impact on young people’s lives, I know that’s a real blessing. I’ve been doing this for a long time but when I say I’m just getting started, I mean it. I’m excited to see where I’ll be in five years, or even ten, just knowing where I’ve been. But the part that makes me really grateful is that new fans, fans who are too young to know about my past wins, still find me and have love for me.
But it’s not all about fans; it’s about the new generation. When you’ve been in the game as long as I have and you get older, you really start thinking about the people coming next. Some people, once they get a few wins, get selfish. They start only thinking about themselves and how they’re going to hold on to everything they worked hard for, and a lot of the time they do this by keeping everybody out. They start looking over their shoulder and seeing the young as “they.” For the most part it’s a sure sign of insecurity, and the result is that they start getting competitive instead of being a teacher.
That’s just a cycle. And it’s a negative one. That’s how you produce generations that h
aven’t learned anything about the business and the culture. That’s how you have whole groups of people who don’t know how to respect the code, because they were never treated with respect. They had to fight and break down doors for everything, too, and then you have an entire industry that’s frustrated and bitter. That’s how beefs start, and unfortunately that’s how a culture erodes and becomes weaker. That’s the part of the story that makes my heart heavy. Think about it: We all came together because we have love for the same music and the same interests, but eventually egos and emotions get in the way. My albums are the few moments in a crazy, competitive landscape where everyone gets along for the sake of the anthem.
I’m speaking on music when I say this, but this goes for all cultures and all industries. It’s the same way in TV or magazines or movies. You’ve got old people mad at the new people coming up on the Internet. It’s always been a cycle, for hundreds of years, no matter what game you were in. Even with factories, people built cars and then the machines took over. Old and new always fight when innovation changes the ways things are. It’s just that these days, the innovations come faster and faster. This can be scary to some people, but to me this just means the opportunities come faster and faster. I love the new era. It’s all about perspective and it’s all about looking forward, not back.