Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard (born October 16, 1973), professionally known as DJ Khalil, is an American

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and DJ from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He is the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Self Scientific (along with rapper Chace Infinite) and a member of the group

The New Royales The New Royales are a four-person music group consisting of members DJ Khalil, Chin Injeti, Liz Rodrigues, and Erik Alcock. Since forming in 2007, they have worked together as producers and songwriters for artists such as Eminem, Pitbull, Pink ...

, which also includes Liz Rodrigues, Erik Alcock and Pranam

Chin Injeti Pranam "Chin" Injeti (born April 9, 1973 in India) is a Canadian singer, musician, and music producer. He got his start as a founding member of Juno Award-winning group Bass is Base. He frequently collaborates with producer DJ Khalil; together th ...

. He produced the albums ''

Recovery Recovery or Recover may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Recovery'' (novel), a Star Wars e-book * Recovery Version, a translation of the Bible with footnotes published by Living Stream Ministry Film and television * ''Recovery'' (fil ...

'' and ''

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'' is the eighth studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on November 5, 2013 by Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records, and Interscope Records. The album is Eminem's last to have the involvement of inde ...

'' by the rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, as well as the multi-platinum single " The Man" by

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles " I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in t ...

. He is the third born son of former UCLA player and coach and NBA player

Walt Hazzard Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first natio ...

Early life

DJ Khalil was born Khalil Abdul-Rahman in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, and raised in Los Angeles, California. His father,

, who later changed his name to Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, was a professional basketball player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

. At age 13, at a party thrown by his parents, he met

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

, for whom he would later become a staff producer. Khalil played basketball at the high school and collegiate level, as a point guard at

North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, in ...

and Morehouse College.

Career

Khalil began his career as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

(DJ), and graduated to producing music. He began creating tracks on the

Ensoniq ASR-10 The Ensoniq ASR-10 was a sampling keyboard produced by Ensoniq between 1992 and 1998. The ASR-10 was a follow up product to the very popular Ensoniq EPS and Ensoniq EPS-16+ performance samplers, and was also available with a piano style weigh ...

sampler workstation, later working in Propellerhead

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

. He has produced for a large number of major artists in the hip-hop, R&B and pop genres, including

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, 50 Cent,

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

, The Game,

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released t ...

, Wale, Usher and Guess Who.

Discography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khalil, DJ African-American record producers Aftermath Entertainment artists American hip hop record producers American hip hop DJs African-American DJs Living people Musicians from Los Angeles West Coast hip hop musicians Record producers from California 1973 births North Hollywood High School alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people