DJ Khalil - The Secrets to a 5x Grammy Award Winning Career as a Music Producer

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Anyone within the hip-hop scene knows the name, DJ Khalil. He gained popularity for both his music-producing and DJing skills. The other day, Sonical.ly had a chance to sit down and talk with DJ Khalil about his musical journey. 

If you’d like to listen to the full interview, check it out below!

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Here’s a quick peek at the highlights of our interview:

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Early Life with Music

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Two things were constants in DJ Khalil’s life: basketball and music. Since his father played in the NBA, growing up around basketball is a given. However, his father also loved music and he shared that love with his son. 

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Early on in his youth, DJ Khalil remembers scouring through his dad’s vinyl records and picking the perfect one to play on his dad’s stereo system. The records he remembers most are the black jazz ones. A rarity in a collection at that time.

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Of course, he didn’t stop at just listening to music. He also recorded tapes for his dad to listen to and give feedback.

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Also in his youth was his first exposure to hip-hop and DJing: 

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“He started throwing parties and I used to just hound the DJ. This guy named DJ Red, just one of my mentors, and he let me, you know, jump on the tables before the parties. And that was kind of like my first introduction to, like hip hop and DJing and stuff like that.”

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The Beginning of Music Creation

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It all started in grade 10 with a Casio SK-1 from his mother:

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“I started, you know, like you could sample on a pad and like, you know, I would just like put the put the put it up to the speaker and speed up to 45. and that's how I started making my own loops and beats and stuff like that. And I would take the tape to school and share with my friends. And that was my first piece of equipment.”

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Around that same time, DJ Khalil met his friend Frank Correa, who owned his own studio. Correa taught him many skills, including how to sample, use an S950, and sequence on a computer.

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“And it was just like a whole new world that opened up, you know what I mean?”

To further improve his craft, his dad encouraged him to start learning music theory. Although he struggled with it at first, DJ Khalil acknowledges that it helped immensely. 

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Furthermore, DJ Khalil latched onto hip hop specifically because he considered it “complete innovation” and “it just spoke to me.” This love drove him to learn more about music production. 

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Hardships and Struggles Along the Way

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Things did not always go smoothly for DJ Khalil. In fact, he lost money early in his career due to a lack of knowledge. Among the things he found difficult to understand were publishing, sampling, and royalties. 

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As such, DJ Khalil's journey has been one of constant learning. 

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However, even when he did know his stuff, he still struggled. This time with imposter syndrome.

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“I've had it, man, most of my career where I'm like, you know, they're gonna find out I'm a fraud or, you know, I'm not really that good or, you know, I don't know theory like that. So wait, you know, what if I get in the room and they figure out that I don't know?”

At one point, he was set to work with Don Tripp and ended up breaking down in his car while on the phone with his mom. He didn’t believe he deserved to be there. 

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DJ Khalil’s mom, of course, reassured him and told him to “go in there”, “do your best” and “have fun.” Which is valuable advice for everyone in the music industry. 

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The Good Times

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Despite the hardships, DJ Khalil has had a blast creating music.

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One of his favourite parts is collaborating with other artists: 

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“Collaboration is everything. I feel like my music got 10 times better when I started collaborating with other musicians and writers and building my team, my own creative team, and having people that at each position were incredible at what they did, and incredible at, and weren't afraid to express themselves.”

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Another part he loves is the feeling of an amazing song coming together. Fear by Drake was one of those songs that came together like magic. 

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Finally, he just loves that he can put his all into his music to express himself and that people connect with what he’s created. That’s what matters most to him. Not the awards or the fame, but being able to create something that could “change somebody’s life.”

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Wrap-Up: Advice for Aspiring Music Creators

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• Never lose sight of why you’re creating music – Stay true to yourself
• Keep your ego in check and stay humble – “There’s always somebody better and you can always get better”
• Never stop learning – There is always room for improvement
• Create what you want and not what you think is good – Don’t get stuck copying others

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If you’d like to listen to the full interview, check it out below!

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