ifwt_khaled

DJ Khaled has the world in his palms at the moment but it wasn’t always like that. He started out grinding like most dj’s do just by trying to get music into as many hands as possible. He took advantage of his position as a ball boy with the Orlando Magic in the early-mid 90’s by getting his mixtapes in the hands of some influential people, namely Shaq and countless other Magic players. It was a move that would help propel him on the way to stardom.

@IamJoeSports

I used to live in Orlando, and I actually was a ball boy for the Magic, and I used to sell my mixtapes back in the locker rooms to the players. Every time an NBA player pulled up to the parking lot, they were bumping that DJ Khaled mixtape. … It was a great experience for me because I got to see these guys come from the bottom, like when Shaq first got signed to Orlando. And then still be his friend, and when I see him and show love and salute, he know where I come from, meaning from the bottom, hustling this music.

It was a different era back then and he made it work for him. Nowadays, you can’t just sell your mixtapes because everything is digital and music is already at the fingertips of players on their phones. Everyone has to start somewhere and even 20 years ago Khaled was thinking ahead.

Dime