DJ Khaled Named President Of Def Jam South

Khaled, known as of late for bringing slews of artists together on his popular posse cuts will officially be taking over Def Jam's southern division, once led by legendary rapper Scarface.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to do, is be an executive and take it to another level,” said Khaled of the move. “L.A. [Reid] just hit me one day. He was like, ‘We should bring Khaled on board. He makes hits, he has relationships.’ I got a team of producers and we go in hard. My job is to bring hits to the table and work with new artists and work with established artists. I’m bringing new energy to the game and to the building."

Khaled will oversee such artists' releases as Ludacris, Young Jeezy and Ace Hood. Rick Ross, who has worked with Khaled on numerous projects, will have the fist album released during Khaled's tenure - the upcoming Deeper Than Rap.

As for the beef between 50 Cent and Rick Ross, Khaled maintains that he will remain out it - even though 50 brought his mother into the fray [click to read]. “I don’t deal with negative energy, it’s a waste of my time and my time is valuable,” he said. “I keep negative away and stay positive.”

“At Def Jam, we promote music,” he continued. “We promote hit records. That’s what I respect. I’m always going to represent the music; Rick Ross is gonna represent the music. If controversy comes with it, it comes with it. And boy, ‘Magnificent’ — Rick Ross featuring John Legend, that’s Ricky Ross’ first single — it’s a monster. It’s gonna be on and poppin’.”
Hiphopdx