Executive Decision: Can DJ Khaled Become Epic’s New President?

Back in June,

DJ Khaled paid a visit to Power 105’s morning show “The Breakfast Club” . He was there to premiere the track that would become the hip-hop song of the summer- ‘ Wild Thoughts” - which features superstars, Rihanna, and Bryson Tiller. The 32- minute interview found Khaled chopping it up with hosts; DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God, & Angela Yee, on topics including Khaled’s relationship with Birdman, and his new sneaker with Jordan Brand. At the 24:50 minute mark of the video, Charlamagne asked Khaled about the rumors that he was campaigning to become the new president of Epic records. Quickly disparaging the rumors, Khaled mentioned that he himself was not campaigning for job- rather it was others that was campaigning on his behalf. However, he followed that statement with the fact that he was president of Def Jam South for 5-6 years, and that he has been offered president jobs in other places. Not to mention, he is also executive of his own label We The Best Music Group. To me that sounds like although he might not be ‘campaigning” , he wants everyone to know that he is more than capable in handling such a role. Now the question emerged; how would DJ Khaled fair as a label execute now?

According to Rap-up.com, early consensus say that Khaled “isn’t likely to get the job”- reported from a source. The anonymous source went on to say that “Khaled is a big hype machine- not a person who’s running a label”. In the breakfast club interview, Charlamagne also gave his 2 cents on why he thinks it wouldn’t work. He stated that Khaled is “too famous” now to be a label execute, and even used Jay Z’s often criticized tenure as president of Def Jam, during the height of his rap career, as an example for his case. Fame aside, let’s examine what it means to be a music label executive. By definition, a music exec can oversee many aspects of the music industry, including but not limited to; A&R, production, marketing/promotion, touring and distribution. Based on the criteria alone, I think Khaled would be a very successful music executive. Yes he IS a “big hype machine”; but that means he’s excellent in marketing and promotion. As far as touring and distribution, he is the label head for We The Best Music Group, which handled those types of duties for artists like Ace Hood , and others. Which brings us to production. Khaled has released an impressive string of albums, all of which have boasted billboard-charting singles. His most recent project Grateful , as of today has released three billboard top 100 singles; “Shining”, “I’m the One”, and “Wild Thoughts”. There has been speculation on what’s the exact role Khaled plays in the creation of tracks. Say what you want, there is no doubt that DJ Khaled has a knack for crafting hits. Rather he is the one actually behind the drum machine, or writing hooks, is irrelevant. The fact that he can architect the right mix of collaborators; producers, rappers, singers, to create hits requires a certain level of genius on it’s own. By the way that is EXACTLY what an executive producer does in the first place!; overseeing the creation of a music project. As my friend Marcus K Dowling put it; “Khaled’s the David Stern of rap, lol”.

Yes he is in the height of his popularity, but unlike Jay Z when he was president at Def Jam, Khaled would not be a competing rapper with a label’s roster. Therefore I think he will face less scrutiny as far as the motives behind executive decisions. Based on his interactions with his son, and his stories on how he track down and acquire features from such artists like Jay himself; Khaled is labeled as a new symbol of speaking, positive, thinking, things into existence. That type of energy, I think will work in his favor, attracting other artists, rather than pushing them away.

@DJChalant