Back to his usual tricks, DJ Khaled is busy putting the biggest names in rap together onto one superproject. Victory, Khaled’s fourth compilation album, is slated for release this March. among the expected features like THE USUAL SUSPECTS YOUNG Jeezy, Rick Ross, Wayne, and T-Pain, there’s also a big surprise Khaled is waiting to REVEAL. What’s new with you? We’ve been hearing a lot about the album lately. What’s the update with that? The album is coming out March 2nd. It’s called Victory. This is my fourth album. It’s been a little while between your last album and this one. What are some things you’ve been focused on in the meantime? Well, I’m the President of Def Jam South so I’m busy with that. I’m working with Rick Ross, Jeezy, Ludacris, Ace Hood, basically the whole Def Jam lineup. As President of Def Jam South, what exactly are your roles under that title? What are you expected to accomplish? Everything. The President delivers hit records, makes sure my artists are happy, and oversees each project as a whole. I did that last year with Rick Ross’ album. That went #1. We broke a new artist last year named Ace Hood. This year we got Rick Ross coming back out with Teflon Don. I predict that will be #1. We got Jeezy coming out with TM103. I predict that will be #1. Ludacris is coming out with a new album soon. I predict that will be #1. We just workin’. Def Jam is one big team. We all come together and help each other – from all the executives, to all the A&Rs, to all the promotions people. When you first started working and building the Khaled name, is this where you saw yourself going? This is exactly what I predicted I was gonna do. So did you have a specific plan in mind for your career path, like an outline of goals? Or did it just fall into place? I definitely set goals to get to a certain level every year. I still got more goals to accomplish, but each year it played out.
24 // OZONE MAG
What’s the plan for Ace Hood? He did two albums and everyone’s wondering where you’re going to go from here with him. We have a smash record. I’m about to release his single. We got a new record coming out with Trey Songz that’s a fuckin’ hit! Ace already had one single come out with Trey Songz that did pretty well. Is that why you went with him again on a collaboration? The record you’re talking about was like a Top 10 record I think. It was huge. That record doing so well is what made me realize that Ace is good at making records for the ladies. Another reason I had Trey and Ace do another record together – they have great chemistry. But that was a learning experience for Ace, he had to find himself. Ace comes from the hood so he hadn’t experienced a lot of stuff musically in his life. Right now he’s a brand new fresh artist coming into his own. He’s got some hits under his belt, and we’re gonna drop a new one this year that’s gonna be big. You’re known for creating super collabos. What types of features can we expect on your album? I’ve got a single out now called “Fed Up” featuring Usher, Jeezy, Ross, Weezy, and Drake. The video is huge. I’m about to drop two records. My second single is called “All I Do Is Win” featuring Ludacris, T-Pain, Snoop, and Ross. I have another record called “Put Ya Hands Up” featuring Jeezy, Ross, and Plies. It’s gonna hurt the streets on a whole other level. I guarantee Victory. If you could put some artists from any era on one record together, who would you have collaborate to make an epic song? Definitely Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Tupac, and Biggie. What would you name that record? “I Am Legend.” You also recently signed a new artist from Virginia, right? He goes by the name of Rum. Rum is from Richmond, VA. I’m taking my time with Rum. He’s so big in his city and his street cred is so amazing. He has like five records playing on radio in his city; he has like 20 records in the club in his city. He has his city in a frenzy. His buzz over there is so crazy. His wordplay and punchlines are so amazing. The way the game is structured now, it’s different, so it’s hard to break new artists because the game is so saturated. So what I’m doing with Rum