Hip-hop hit-maker DJ Khaled is doing what he does best: making music and inspiring others. Khaled has been in the game since the ‘90s, graduating from spinning vinyl in his garage to the GRAMMY stage. Today, the GRAMMY-winning producer and artist has a multitude of roles.

"I’m a father, I’m a producer, I’m a DJ, I'm a music executive, I'm an executive, I’m a young entrepreneur," Khaled told GRAMMY U National Representative Carlie Anderson. 

Khaled showed he is also a role model, taking time to speak with GRAMMY U following at an Aug. 16 event at Miami’s Soho Beach House. There, Khaled was in conversation with Carl Lamarre, Billboard’s Deputy Director of R&B and Hip-Hop.

The conversation wasn’t exactly planned, but Khaled made sure to make the most of the opportunity to speak to the younger audience of GRAMMY U, even telling those around him to quiet down so that he could give his full attention to Anderson.  

Khaled reflected on the creation of his 2006 debut project Listennn…the Album, as well as the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Like many artists and fans, Khaled believes hip-hop is more than just a genre of music: it’s a lifestyle. 

"Hip-hop is not only everything to me, it is a force of greatness," Khaled tells Anderson. "Hip-hop changed my life, saved my life. I love hop-hop. I have to thank hip-hop for the blessings and inspiration, for the way hip-hop raised me."

Khaled recalled how he found hip-hop on his own and began to immerse himself in the world behind the music. Now, as a leading contributor to the culture, Khaled regularly reflects on how the culture made him who he is.

When it comes to being an inspiration to others, Khaled takes his position very seriously. His advice to young and emerging music-makers was simple: "Just be you.

"The world is yours," Khaled continued. "Being you is the most beautiful thing in the world."

After receiving five nominations at the 2023 GRAMMY Awards and performing at the show alongside Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Rick Ross, and, Khaled shows no signs of stopping. Earlier in August, he announced his 14th studio album, Til Next Time. The new project will be his first under the new partnership with Def Jam (in February, the rapper left Sony Music to join Universal Music Group). With this deal, Khaled was also named Global Creative Consultant for UMG.

The announcement of his album also came with a four-minute trailer, featuring his wife and two children. With comical moments from Khaled throughout, the video still steadies itself with the trademark motivational sentiments the producer is known for. 

"Success ain't easy," Khaled said in the trailer. "You gotta want it so bad that you're willing to put everything on the line, even if you gotta risk your own life." 

It’s no surprise that Khaled has some big features planned for the album. The debut single, "Supposed to Be Loved," already spotlights frequent collaborator Lil Baby, as well as Future and Lil Uzi Vert, who is working with the musician for the first time. 

As a true master of collaborations, Khaled told GRAMMY U about how his partners are often also his inspirations. Dr. Dre, Puff Daddy, and Fat Joe sit high in his mind, as well as Jay-Z, who Khaled credits to having "shown us that anything and everything is possible" in this industry.

Khaled also gave love to his supporters for sticking by him in all his different endeavors. 

"My fans are my inspiration," Khaled says. "They keep me going and keep me doing what I love to do, making music and representing hip-hop." 

With Til Next Time and his other efforts,  Khaled strives to continue pushing hip-hop forward. This genre’s milestone is the first of many in his mind: "Not only hip-hop 50, it’s hip hop forever." 

11 Hip-Hop Subgenres To Know: From Jersey Club To G-Funk And Drill

The 2023 GRAMMYs' ambitious, world-beating tribute to hip-hop's 50th anniversary is getting a lot of ink — for a very good reason.

Featuring an ensemble ranging from progenitors like Grandmaster Flash and Run-DMC, to legends such as Too Short and Missy Elliott, and modern-day practitioners like Lil Baby, GloRilla and Lil Uzi Vert, the tribute segment was stunning not only on a logistical level, but on conceptual, emotional and historical planes.

But the Recording Academy's tribute to this landmark in time wasn't siphoned off to that 15-minute segment — not even close. In fact, the entirety of Music's Biggest Night radiated with the courageous, intrepid, forward-thinking spirit of hip-hop.

The tribute performance was just one of many nods to rap during GRAMMY week. Days before, Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott and Dr. Dre were honored by the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective in a ceremony that contained performances by Snoop Dogg, 2 Chainz and Ciara. And the pre-GRAMMY gala featured a performance from Weezy, Latto and Lil Baby.

At Music’s Biggest Night, the hip-hop love roared fully to life. Here are five ways hip-hop took over the 2023 GRAMMYs, a foreshadowing of an entire year in celebration of the epochal artform — with the extended hip-hop tribute as a springboard.

***GloRilla performing at the 2023 GRAMMYs. Photo: Getty Images for the Recording Academy***

A Global Hip-Hop Rager For The Ages

Until Music's Biggest Night, to fit hip-hop's evolution and essence into 15 minutes would seem logistically untenable. But the Academy did the impossible.

The Questlove-curated set moved lightning-quick from '70s and '80s pioneers, to 2000s radio dominators like Nelly, all the way to the current era.

Like with the last Super Bowl's ensemble cast of rap greats, the result was emotionally walloping, historically edifying and visually spectacular.

Most importantly, the music was exceptional — a tip of the hat to a precious form of American expression. To anyone who still subscribes to some form of stigma — you don't know what you're missing.

The Rap Categories Contained Serious Jewels

Let's take a step back, though, and examine the 2023 GRAMMYs' hip-hop nominees and winners themselves.

Kendrick Lamar was well-represented in both the General and Rap fields, and commensurately for Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers and Lamar's non-album single "The Heart Pt. 5."

For the former, Lamar won Best Rap Album; for the latter, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. With the success of "The Heart Pt. 5," he is now the most-awarded artist in the latter category.

Together, these offerings comprise something of a creative and emotional watershed for Lamar. As for Pusha T, It's Almost Dry — nominated for Best Rap Album — contained some of his most crystal-sharp coke raps to date.

Plus, the sheer range of guests on DJ Khaled's GOD DID — nominated for Best Rap Album — could be the ultimate testament to his indomitable spirit, curatorial acumen and infectious sense of largesse.

This also applies to fellow nominees from Future, who won Best Melodic Rap Performance for "WAIT FOR U," to Jack Harlow, who was nominated liberally throughout the Rap field.

Given the level of craft throughout, hip-hop isn't just ripe to be celebrated for its past, but for its boundless future.

Dr. Dre Was Presented With A Global Impact Award

At the 2023 GRAMMYs, seven-time GRAMMY winner Dr. Dre was the recipient of the inaugural Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his multitude of achievements through his innovative, multi-decade career.

Dr. Dre was presented the award after a plethora of televised bona fides, and offered his thanks to the Recording Academy and Black Music Collective for the prestigious honor in light of the Recording Academy's celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

*A tribute to Takeoff during the 2023 GRAMMYs. Photo: Getty Images for the Recording Academy*

Quavo Performed A Moving Tribute To The Late Takeoff

There's a bittersweetness to celebrating hip-hop on a global scale in 2023, as so many of its best and brightest have died far too young in recent years.

Among these tragedies was the senseless death of Takeoff, one-third of the family-bound rap trio Migos, along with Offset and Quavo.

Read More: Remembering Takeoff: Why The Unassuming Rapper Was Foundational To Migos

As part of the In Memoriam segment, backed by worship ensemble Maverick City Music, Quavo honored his late nephew with a soul-searing version of "Without You."

"Tears rollin' down my eyes / Can't tell you how many times I cried," he rapped before an empty microphone stand, poignantly hung with Takeoff's chain. "Days ain't the same without you / I don't know if I'm the same without you."

*John Legend, Fridayy, and DJ Khaled performing at the 2023 GRAMMYs. Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for The Recording Academy*

DJ Khaled & Company Closed The Curtain With "GOD DID"

At the end of the ceremony, DJ Khaled brought out collaborators Jay-Z, John Legend, Lil Wayne, Fridayy, and Rick Ross for a rendition of GOD DID's title track, which was nominated for Song Of The Year, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.

Seated horizontally in an opulent, Last Supper-esque tableau, the stars sang their hooks while bathed in purple light, closing out the 2023 GRAMMYs with laconic flair.

It was a fitting conclusion to Music's Biggest Night, one that placed hip-hop where it belongs: on the top shelf.

2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Winners & Nominees List

DJ Khaled closed out the 2023 GRAMMYs with a star-studded squad including Jay-Z, John Legend, Lil Wayne, Fridayy, and Rick Ross on their collab "GOD DID."

Spilling into the street outside L.A.'s Crypto.com Arena, the assembled MCs and singers spit their verses and sang their hooks awash in purple light, with Legend seated behind a piano covered in flowers while the rest sat at an opulent, overflowing table in the style of the Last Supper.

"They didn't want us to win! So I made sure I was on the GRAMMYs stage with the biggest! This is for hip-hop!" Khaled shouted in between verses by Ross and Lil Wayne. And later, Jay-Z stole the spotlight as he testified, "These ain't songs, these is hymns 'cause I'm him/ It's the Psalm 151, this New Testament/ The book of Hov/ Jesus turned water to wine/ For Hove, it just took a stove."

The praiseworthy banger raked in three nominations at this year's awards show, including Song Of The Year, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. The album GOD DID was up for Best Rap Album.

The superproducer scored a sixth nomination in the Best Melodic Rap Performance category for "BEAUTIFUL," the Future and SZA-assisted album cut off GOD DID. He nabbed an additional nomination as a guest artist on Mary J. Blige's Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe), which is nominated for Album Of The Year.

Over the course of 2022, GOD DID earned Khaled his seventh career Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to lead single "Staying Alive" featuring Drake and Lil Baby. It also became his fourth chart-topping album on the Billboard 200.

Check out the complete list of winners and nominees at the 2023 GRAMMYs.

GRAMMY-nominee DJ Khaled is set to appear on the 2023 GRAMMYs telecast with his musical collaborators Fridayy, Jay-Z, John Legend, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross to perform “God Did”, his track nominated for this year’s Song Of The Year.

DJ Khaled is nominated for six GRAMMY Awards this year, with five of those nominations for “God Did” including, Song Of The Year ("God Did"), Album Of The Year (God Did), Best Rap Song ("God Did"), Best Rap Album (God Did), Best Rap Performance (“God Did”), and Best Melodic Rap Performance ("Beautiful").

Music’s Biggest Night will be broadcast live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Sunday, Feb. 5 (8:00 - 11:30 PM, live ET/5:00 - 8:30 PM, live PT). It will air on the CBS Television Network, stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

Before, during and after the 2023 GRAMMYs, head to live.GRAMMY.com for exclusive, never-before-seen content, including red carpet interviews, behind-the-scenes content, the full livestream of the 2023 GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony, and much more.

Rap music has undergone seismic evolutions since the GRAMMYs gave the first Best Rap Album award to Naughty by Nature’s Poverty’s Paradise in 1996. The genre encompasses so many styles and global communities that it may seem impossible to pick just five out of countless releases to represent the year’s best. However, major statements still matter.

The 2022 nominees for Best Rap Album at the 65th GRAMMY Awards have undoubtedly made a cultural impact — whether it’s on the charts, or among listeners who fervently debated their qualities. This year’s lineup spans generations, from '90s rap veterans like Pusha T and It’s Almost Dry; to superstars like Future and I Never Liked You, DJ Khaled and GOD DID, and Kendrick Lamar and Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers; and relative newcomers like Jack Harlow and Come Home the Kids Miss You.

View the complete list of 2023 GRAMMY Award nominees across all 91 categories.

Future — I Never Liked You

Released in April 2022, Future’s ninth album I Never Liked You found him refining his sense of rap bravado and soulful vulnerability with strong results.

"I’m putting myself out there. Sharing my lifestyle with the world. Sharing my pain with the world," he told GQ magazine. The album was buoyed by a major Billboard  No. 1 single, "Wait for U," where he and guest Drake confessed their romantic insecurities atop a sample of Tems’ R&B gem "Higher." 

I Never Liked You also includes  the woozy melodic hit "Love You Better," and the brash trap banger "Keep It Burnin’" with Kanye West. Future also collaborated with Gunna, Young Thug, and EST Gee; a deluxe edition of I Never Liked You added pairings with Babyface Ray, Lil Baby and Lil Durk.

Jack Harlow — Come Home the Kids Miss You

Jack Harlow’s second album Come Home the Kids Miss You not only established him as a major star, but as the biggest rapper to emerge from Louisville, Kentucky — a fact he references in lyrics as well as a highly publicized appearance at the 2022 edition of the Kentucky Derby.

Harlow often speaks of his commitment to Louisville, and album tracks "State Fair" and "Talk of the Town" reveal his conflicted feelings about the ways  fame has changed his relationship to the city that made him. However, it’s that sense of place — as well as singles like "First Class," his hit interpolation of Fergie’s "Glamorous" — that help him stand out among hip-hop’s mainstream firmament. Guests on Come Home included Pharrell Williams, Drake, Justin Timberlake, and Lil Wayne.

DJ Khaled — GOD DID

Miami DJ and producer DJ Khaled specializes in star-studded, culture-shifting albums, and his 13th album is no exception. The Billboard chart-topping GOD DID includes appearances from nearly every significant mainstream rap figure: Drake, Lil Baby, Future, Travis Scott, Gunna, Roddy Rich, Latto, City Girls, 21 Savage and Jadakiss.

Yet the coup de grâce is the title track, where Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and newcomer Fridayy set the stage for one of Jay-Z’s most memorable verses in recent memory, all while John Legend sings the chorus. Of course, Khaled always reserves one track on his albums for Caribbean sounds in a clear nod to his Miami roots. For GOD DID, that’s "These Streets Know My Name," a cipher between Skillibeng, Buju Banton, Capleton, Bounty Killer, and Sizzla.

Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers

Kendrick Lamar’s first album in over five years continues his legacy of complex album-length statements. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is structured as a two-part "double album" within which Lamar documents his struggles with fame, fatherhood, and family history.

Meanwhile, the music is garlanded with the sounds of tap-dancing children, courtesy of twin brothers Freddie and Theodore Tisdale. While Mr. Morale can be provocative — the controversial "We Cry Together" is an angry rap argument between Lamar and guest Taylour Paige — there are plenty of joyful tracks like "Die Hard," a collaboration with Blxst and Amanda Reifer. Other guests on the Billboard chart-topping album include Lamar’s cousin Baby Keem as well as Summer Walker, Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Sam Dew, and Beth Gibbons.

Pusha T — It’s Almost Dry

Since debuting in Clipse with twin brother Gene "No Malice" Thornton in the late '90s, Pusha T has been acclaimed as one of the genre’s best rappers. But it wasn’t until his fourth solo album, It’s Almost Dry, that he finally scored a chart-topping hit.

The album splits production between longtime collaborators Kanye West — Pusha is president of West’s GOOD Music imprint — and Pharrell Williams, his mentor and collaborator on Clipse’s classics. Lyrically, Pusha T refines his persona as a heartless drug dealer, using it as a metaphor for his dominance in the rap game. Guests include Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert, Don Toliver, and Nigo. A final track, "I Pray for You," reunites him with No Malice, who split from Clipse and became a Christian artist several years ago.

2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List