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HThere’s No Place Like BY LAURA SCHREFFLER PHOTOGRAPHY IVAN BERRIOS STYLING TERRELL JONES O M TERRELL JONES DJ KHALED DOESN’T HAVE TO CLICK HIS HEELS THREE TIMES DJ KHALED DOESN’T HAVE TO CLICK HIS HEELS THREE TIMES TO END UP IN THE MAGIC CITY — TO END UP IN THE MAGIC CITY — MIAMI IS HIS, AND HE OWNS IT. MIAMI IS HIS, AND HE OWNS IT. E

efore we even say ‘hello,’ I know what B my conversation with DJ Khaled is going to look like. I mean, “bless up” is his catchphrase. His recently released thirteenth studio album is called God

Did. There’s little doubt that a spiritual and philosophical conversation is in store. I can’t wait. And so, my very first question when the 46-year-old DJ, producer, record executive, and author signs on to Zoom is this: “God did what specifically?”

Trust me: I know what I’m doing by opening this can of worms. Khaled, a devout Muslim, lets out a loud breath as he contemplates his answer. “Ah, man! Well first, we have to talk about a whole lifetime of what

He’s done. But first, He gave us life. You know what I’m saying?And the beautiful thing about life is when you have it, you can do anything you want to do. You can accomplish anything you want. And I know that I’m blessed by God. He’s blessed me to be the guy that walks into a room and lights it up — not because I’m trying to have attention, no. I could walk in and not say a word, and the room is lit up.” He pauses, and I’m excited. I know Khaled is about to deliver one of his legendary Tony-Robbins-esque sermons, that he’s about to preach in the unique way only he can. And... he’s off! “My family always taught me to praise God, and so ever since I was a little kid, I made showing my gratitude to God a priority. I pray every day. I pray almost every second, you know? Even if I’m not in my prayer stance, I’m praying. I’m saying ‘thank you.’ I’m praying for my friends and family; I’m praying for love; and I’m praying for the world to be a better place — but I also know that I have to go out there and make it better. So, the older I got, the wiser I got. I realized that even if you don’t believe that

God did, it doesn’t matter, because God believes in you. Knowing that God believes in me, I have to go harder. I have to show more gratitude every day.

So everything that I’m doing, everything I’ve done, everything I’m going to do, from the past to the future, God has His hands on, because He believes in me. I’m His child. He’s speaking to me. And because He’s speaking to me, my inspiration is non-stop; I wake up inspired. God did that. You know what I’m saying?” I do. But enquiring minds want to know: if he wakes up inspired, is it because his dreams are so vivid? Khaled seems to be the kind of person who dreams big, and in technicolor. I mean, the man is entirely self-made: he is the New-Orleans-born son of two Palestinian immigrants, who started off with nothing more than a love of music, belief in a higher power, a belief in himself. And from that alone, he has built one hell of an empire, because Khaled is the kind of man who makes his dreams a reality.

“My dreams, especially if they’re great ones, I bring to life,” he declares. Case in point, God Did (the album, not the mantra). “Making this album, I couldn’t sleep. A few hours a day, that was it, because my mind was working all day trying to make a masterpiece.” He pauses, goes full Yoda. “Not trying: I made a masterpiece.”

Moving on: “I’d wake up early in the morning and run to the studio because I had so many ideas in my head. My mind kept working while I was sleeping… but is that dreaming? I don’t know. [What I do know] is that these big dreams needed to be brought to life.”

This is the ethos behind God Did, a juggernaut of an album that might just be Khaled’s biggest and most monumental undertaking to date. That the album is referred to as his magnum opus isn’t far off. He collaborated with Dr. Dre and The ICU for the first time ever, and reunited with his longtime “brothers” Drake, JAY-Z, and Rick Ross. He also brought in a slew of celebrity friends and collaborators, who just so happen to be the biggest names in the business, inclusive of Eminem, Future, Kanye West, SZA, 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, Lil Durk, Roddy Ricch, Travis Scott, Latto, City Girls, Kodak Black, Quavo, Takeoff, Bounty Killer, Sizzla, Buju Banton, Skillibeng, Capelton, Fridayy, Don Toliver, Jadakiss, Nardo Wick, Vory, John Legend, and the late Juice WRLD. No big deal, right? Understandably, the We The Best Music Group/Epic Records release bowed at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, earning Khaled his fourth career #1 debut. And I’m sure it’s needless to say (but I’m saying it anyway) that Khaled believes God’s will was the driving force behind the album’s success.As for Jay-Z and Drake? Well, they helped, too.

“I’m spiritual, and that comes across in my music, that comes across in the way I talk, the way I walk, the way I move — in the way I do everything,” he says now, noting, “I could be in the middle of a meeting, or the middle of an interview, and be like, ‘God is great!’ I’ll just come out of nowhere and say that. And you feel that with God Did. The title track is also called ‘God Did’ and I start off saying, ‘While you hatin’ and being jealous? You could be over here embracing that love; more love, more blessings, more life.’ Basically, what I’m trying to say is, come over here, come get a hug. All that other stuff, that ain’t dealing with love.” Of course it was all love in the studio, given that so many of the artists Khaled enlisted are part of his extended family, brothers that drop by his Miami Beach mega-mansion on the reg for a casual dinner or a swim in his 80-foot-long pool. “Everybody that worked on my album, they know that, besides us being great, we work with each other because we’re talented and we respect each other. They know that going into it, there’s going to be love, because love is the only thing that I deal with,” he swears. Love, he says, is why hisA-list pals come back time and time again to help their brother out. “A lot of the artists you see me working with, I worked with them at the beginning of their careers, just like they worked with me at the beginning of mine. Respect for each other is on the highest level, because we came up from the mud to the marble floors.Also, we know who we are as individuals, as hustlers. And so, a lot of these kings and queens, I consider them family. Jay-Z is family to me; Drake, [Rick]

“Sometimes, you need to sit back, look at life, and reflect.”

“My mind kept working while I was sleeping… but is that dreaming? I don’t know. [What I do know] is that these big dreams need to be brought to life.”

Ross, Lil’ Wayne, Future… they’re family. These are real friendships. We don’t just make music together; we talk to each other on the regular. They come over for dinner, and we just chill. Some of us even go on vacation together — but not everyone sees it, because it isn’t all on social media.”

The world might not see it, but they certainly hear it: his latest album is proof of that. On the eight-plus-minute title track, for example, he reunites with Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend, and Fridayy to spark an impactful conversation about spirituality. The closing track, ‘Grateful’ (featuring Vory) showcases the gratitude he has for everything he’s been given in life, while ‘Staying Alive’ (featuring Drake and Lil Baby) is his anthem for surviving the pandemic; and ‘Beautiful’ (featuring SZA and Future) is a track for “all the beautiful queens out there.”

He has a lot to say, in particular, about ‘Big Time’ (featuring Future and Lil Baby), as well as hitting it. “When we were making [the] record, I was at dinner with Future, and I was like, yo, we can’t be big time if we don’t move big time. And we ended up making an anthem called ‘Big Time.’ To me, ‘Big Time’ is praying. ‘Big Time’ is saying ‘thank you.’ ‘Big Time’ is saying ‘bless up.’ ‘Big Time’ is saying, ‘I love you.’ A lot of us, where I come from, show our blessings and successes through our watches, through our clothes, through our words. You can’t be big time if you ain’t got security, and we’re not talking about ‘cause we flossin’, no. You can’t want to be big time and not move big time. It’s like, you can’t be big time if you ain’t got the Haute Living cover!” Kudos Khaled — I see you.

J Khaled — born Khaled Mohammed Khaled — is chilling at home at his $25.9 million waterfront pad in Miami, and life is good. He is, as he himself might say, blessed up (and in a big way).

Home has always been where Khaled’s heart is. It’s where his family is, and it’s in the Magic City — the city responsible for making him a legend. It’s where, for over two decades, his career has grown from strength to strength, where he laid his hat after winning four Grammys; where he achieved dozens of multiplatinum and gold certifications, including the sextuple-platinum Billboard Hot 100 #1 ‘I’m The One’ (featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne), the quadruple-platinum ‘Wild Thoughts’ (featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller), and doubleplatinum ‘No Brainer’ (featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, and Quavo); where he’d head back to after shooting blockbusters like Bad Boys For Life and Pitch Perfect 3; where he launched his record label, management, publishing, and production company, We the Best Music Group; and where he established his non-profit, the We The Best Foundation.

And so when he says that Miami is not only a city, but also a part of him, I totally get it.