Stay Away from “They”

You hear me saying “Stay away from ‘they’” all the time, but who are “they”? I’ll tell you: “They” are the enemy. “They” want to keep the keys hidden and block you from the pathway of more success, and “they” want to see you to fail. I’ve seen “they” out there and I’ve seen their evil. It makes “they” happy when you don’t prosper and “they” laugh at your plans to make yourself better and get ahead. The person who wants to distract you from your studies or your career with their drama? That’s a “they.” That’s a big “they.” But here’s a major key: As long as you stay away from “they,” you will prosper.

People ask me how “they” become that way. I tell them—hate makes you “they.” Back in the day I used to just call “they” haters, but I realized after a while that I had to change that word out of necessity. “They” are sneakier than that—“they” take all forms. For some it will be immediately apparent that there’s hate in their hearts, but others have a disguise.

There’s the type who will do everything in their power to befriend you; “they” will want to hug you and kiss you, meet your family, and become your friend. You’ve even got the kind who bring you thoughtful presents. But even if a “they” hid their true nature at the beginning, eventually you’ll see their evil energy. The “they” vibe is a mess. You know that feeling in your gut when you meet someone who seems off? Young world: Pay close attention to that feeling and trust your instincts. It doesn’t matter how new or inexperienced you are, or how influential “they” are, or what “they” have that you don’t. Don’t get distracted by the gifts and affection and don’t ever think a “they” knows what’s best for you.

I’m blessed for a lot of reasons. You can see the blessings in my house, my family, my musical garden, and Florida, but an unseen blessing might be one of the most important—my memory. Anyone who’s ever worked with me—and that’s a lot of people—will tell you the same thing. I remember. I want this to be put in bold in the book in big letters: I REMEMBER. Major key.
“They” tried to count me out. “They” told me I couldn’t have a house on the ocean, that I couldn’t have a garden filled with angels. “They” told me time and time again that whatever my goals were I couldn’t reach them. And I remember it all—twenty years of doubt and hate. If you’re reading this and experiencing doubt and hate right now, just remember I’ve gone through all of it and triumphed. I’ve had “they” tell me to my face—to my face!—that I wouldn’t amount to anything. When I was working at the very bottom, nobody was trying to hear that I was going to be the biggest DJ in Miami and the world. Nobody thought a high school dropout would ever be a record label executive. Even later, when I wanted to make an album, I had so many people tell me I’d lost my mind. “They” all said, “Khaled, you can’t have a hip-hop album; you can’t rap.” But I found a way. Not only that, I make some of the biggest rap records in history.

And now I got the keys. And “they” hate it. “They” hid the keys from me because...