It seems like DJ Khaled's made an enemy out of his former collaborator, reggae superstar Sizzla Kalonji.
Sizzla and DJ Khaled connected in the past, largely on Khaled's recent projects such as Grateful, Father Of Asahd, and God Did. He handled the intro on Grateful. Then, he linked up with Mavado, 070 Shake, and Buju Banton on Father Of Asahd. Sizzla also delivered a stunning performance alongside Bouty Killer, Skillibeng, Capleton and Buju Banton on "TSKNM" off of God Did.
It seems that the working relationship between Khaled and Sizzla is no more, despite their successes together. This morning, the reggae star shared a video of himself burning several platinum plaques from his collaborations alongside the Miami-based DJ. The video shows him removing the platinum discs, and the photos of Khaled's kids from the album art, before setting flames to the plaques. "You insult me, DJ Khaled," he's heard saying over the video. "Cut out the baby picture. The baby's innocent. At this point, Sizzla sets all of the plaques on fire together.
The root of the issue appears to stem from Khaled's approach to bringing dancehall sounds on his album. However, some also believe that Sizzla felt disrespected by the size of his name on the plaque.
In the video, he claims that Khaled insulted Jamaica and dancehall culture. However, he did say that he wanted the pictures of Asahd and Aalam Khaled, who he called his God kids.
So far, we haven't heard anything from DJ Khaled on the matter. However, his ties to Jamaica's dancehall scene have been documented over the years. On his latest albums, Sizzla's presence specifically helped bring authentic reggae and dancehall sounds to DJ Khaled's project.
During an interview with Grammy.com in 2021, DJ Khaled explained how Jamaican artists played a huge role in his career.
"All those artists 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 said. “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… I love Reggae music and I love Dancehall.”
We'll keep you posted if Khaled ends up responding to Sizzla.