DJ Khaled

DJ Khaled, born Khaled Mohammed Khaled in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 26 November 1975, is an American DJ, rapper and record producer of Palestinian descent. ¹ He first gained recognition as a radio host on Miami's 99 Jamz in the 1990s, and became known for albums built around guest artists, among them Major Key (2016), which debuted atop the Billboard 200. ¹ In 2014 he described himself as a devout Muslim. ¹

Khaled was born in New Orleans to Palestinian immigrant parents — his father from Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya and his mother from Ramallah — and built his reputation in Miami, first as a radio host on WEDR (99 Jamz) and then as DJ and producer for Fat Joe's Terror Squad collective. ¹ His debut album Listennn... the Album appeared in 2006, followed by We the Best (2007), We Global (2008) and Victory (2010), the latter supported by the triple-platinum single "All I Do Is Win". ¹ We the Best Forever (2011) brought him mainstream prominence with "I'm on One"; after Kiss the Ring (2012), Suffering from Success (2013) and I Changed a Lot (2015), his ninth album Major Key (2016) debuted atop the Billboard 200 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards. ¹ In 2021 he released Khaled Khaled, his twelfth studio album, named after his legal name. ¹

His albums include Listennn... the Album (2006), We the Best (2007), We Global (2008), Victory (2010), We the Best Forever (2011), Kiss the Ring (2012), Suffering from Success (2013), I Changed a Lot (2015), Major Key (2016) and Khaled Khaled (2021). ¹

This section sets out different positions as reported in the sources. It is not a verdict by the museum.

His faith as the sources state it. The article states that in 2014 Khaled described himself as a devout Muslim, in his Larry King interview, and that in December 2022 he visited Mecca with Mike Tyson to participate in the Umrah pilgrimage, citing The New Arab. ¹ The Arabic article repeats both points; the Urdu stub files him among the Muslims of Florida and of Louisiana. ^{2 3} A self-description of devotion and a pilgrimage attest identity and practice, not a school: no source names a madhhab for him, and Wikidata gives only Islam generically. ⁴ His record therefore carries his faith as unknown, with the attestations recorded verbatim. ¹

Criticism over Gaza. The article reports that on the song "Make Them Pay" from Drake's 2026 album Iceman, Drake criticizes Khaled for not speaking out on the Gaza war, despite his Palestinian roots. ¹

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.