DJ Khaled has opened up about his financial struggles in the mid-2010s, which almost resulted in him losing his home.
The We The Best mogul was unveiled as Rolling Stone‘s newest cover star on Tuesday (November 7). In the interview, he gave a rare look into his personal life behind the music success and motivational speeches.
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Khaled admitted that he was “hustling not smart” around 2015 before he struck gold with his Snapchat antics and chart-topping Major Key album the following year.
While business is booming these days, there was an uncertain time when the “God Did” hitmaker had to scramble for a sizeable rent payment to keep his Miami mansion after investing a large amount of his capital into his We The Best company.
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“I remember I had like a month to come up with this [large] amount of money. I kept saying, ‘There’s no way in the world that we worked this much this far and we don’t have nothing to show for it.’ I changed that right away,” he recalled.
“I was like, ‘Yo, if I want a family, I got to get my shit right.’ And I gambled on myself. I always bet on myself from day one. But I tripled down that day.”
Even with all of the success he’s achieved, DJ Khaled downplays the role of analytics and says his creative decisions are based solely on his instincts.
“You got people that work behind these desks, they hide behind their desks, and they’re not even in the field,” he explained. “If you’re not in the field, how are you going to feel something? Some people work off of analytics. I work off of heart, blood, sweat, and tears.”
In another part of the interview, Khaled explained the meaning behind the title of his upcoming album Til Next Time, which he clarified does not mean he’s retiring.
“I’m treating it like it’s my last album. But it’s not a goodbye,” he said. “You’re going to start seeing and hearing about all these new things that I’m doing. I’m going to be doing more TV and film. We taking over the TV and film.
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“That’s what Til Next Time is — it’s like, I’m going to give you an incredible album, but also while I’m giving you that incredible album, you’re going to see all these big new moves that I’m doing and new categories that we going to take over.”
