Rap mogul DJ Khaled has revealed that dancehall and Jamaica have a big influence on his career. The ‘We The Best’ head honcho recently sat down for an episode of the ‘Up Close & Personal’ podcast for Grammy.com, where he shared the impact that Jamaica and dancehall music has had on his life.

“Dancehall is a part of my story, you know what I’m saying, Jamaica is a part of Khaled’s story and it’s such a blessing,” the Grammy winner remarked. “I love reggae music and I love dancehall,” he added.

Khaled shared that in early days of his career, he had a lot of support from the Jamaican community especially in Miami, and would regularly do shows in Kingston. “I grew up listening to dancehall, playing dancehall music with hip hop. As a young kid, I used to be in Jamaica, I use to basically live in Miami and Jamaica. I sound clashed, I’ve deejayed in Kingston throughout the whole beginning of my career,” he said.

Dancehall’s biggest names

And he said as his popularity grew, he didn’t forget the support he had gotten especially from some Jamaican artistes. “I blew up, my name got big in Miami and the Caribbean because Khaled was known for playing hip hop and reggae but also known for his special dub plates. And all those artistes you saw on my album on that song, my friends that cosigned me in the beginning of my career. They use to give me dubplates and they put their hands around my shoulder saying we love this kid and I never forget where I come from.”

He also spoke of his love of the track Where We Come From and how he managed to get some of dancehall biggest names on it. “That record, Buju, Capleton, and Bounty have never been on a record together and those are all big huge reggae Jamaican worldwide icons and that record is one of my favourite records,” he remarked.

And according to Khaled, there was no treatment for the video for the song which has so far racked up over 13 million views. Everyone simply came together in St Ann where he was staying and turned the camera on.

Khaled also disclosed that he’s working on a track on Bounty Killer’s upcoming album King Of Kingston and that he was “excited” about the record.