Hollis Johnson”I Changed a Lot,” DJ Khaled’s ninth album, debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard album chart in October 2015 and sold an underwhelming 19,000 copies in its first week of release. 

It was Khaled’s worst-selling album to date.

The bland performance of the LP revealed that the once-ubiquitous Miami DJ had gradually lost his tastemaker’s touch in popular culture. Between 2007 and 2011, the DJ had boasted many platinum-selling posse tracks (“We Takin’ Over,” “All I Do Is Win,” “I’m on One”). 

When Khaled got stuck on a jet ski in the Atlantic Ocean in December 2015 and used Snapchat to record his rescue mission, everything changed. After his video from the event went viral, Khaled became well-known on Snapchat. 

Now that Khaled has more than six million Snapchat followers, the 41-year-old producer has found that his regular presence on the app and other social media is an incredibly powerful marketing tool. 

Raising his profile and gaining millions of new fans, Khaled rode a wave of success to his first number-one album, “Major Key,” in July 2016. 

Based on the success of his most popular track to date, “I’m the One,” his tenth album, “Grateful,” which drops this Friday, appears to be the turning point in his career.

DJ Khaled has been able to revive a career that seemed to be dead just two years ago because to his fast acquisition of over 15 million Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat followers.

Considered the “King of Snapchat” by Coca-Cola Senior VP for Content Emmanuel Seuge, Khaled has shared self-help advice laced with his many catchphrases (“Major Key,” “We the Best,” “Bless Up”), promoted a number of consumer goods, and provided behind-the-scenes looks at studio updates.

Regarding his social media presence, Khaled told CNBC last week that “being authentic always wins.” “People adore seeing someone who is truly authentic. It is not an act. It is not a phoney.

Since the release of his debut album “Listennn…” in 2006, Khaled has frequently drawn attention from prominent hip-hop artists, including Drake, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne. But he’s had to work hard and network for years to obtain the upper-upper-echelon musicians, like JAY-Z, Beyoncé, and Rihanna for example.

When we briefly chatted last year, I asked Khaled to go into more detail about how he paid $1 million for a condo and moved to New York for a year in order to obtain a verse from JAY-Z on his song “They Don’t Love You No More,” which came out in 2015.

Yes. To pull that done, I spent a year in New York. Perseverance, passion, and determination,” he described the endeavour to Business Insider. “I wanted to do it for the fans, the culture, and myself. It’s Jay-Z. His verses are all eternal.

Later, Jay appeared with rapper Future on Khaled’s 2016 song “I Got the Keys” and with Beyoncé on Khaled’s 2017 song “Shining.”

Instead of doing conventional hip-hop, he is now creating creative pop songs.

The “I’m the One” music video from 2017 features Chance the Rapper, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Lil Wayne, and DJ Khaled (L-R). Mixcloud/DJKhaledVEVO
Throughout his career, Khaled has been known for producing traditional hip-hop group tunes. However, this year, he has taken a more popular approach by bringing together a varied group of musicians to create avant-garde pop hits that sound unlike anything he has ever produced.

Khaled’s single “I’m the One,” featuring Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne, Quavo, and Justin Bieber, became his first ever No. 1 single in May.

His most recent single “Wild Thoughts” pairs him with pop superstar Rihanna for the first time ever and features R&B singer Bryson Tiller and a guitar sample from Carlos Santana.