Let's Hear It for Body Positivity Icon DJ Khaled

DJ Khaled’s zeal for living is infectious, if not occasionally grating. Though it is not entirely necessary for him to yell “WE THE BEST” on every track he produces, I welcome it because I appreciate consistency. Not once have I wondered how Khaled was holding up over the duration of our very long year, but I am happy to discover that he is absolutely thriving, stepping in a role I now realize that he was born to play.

GQ has an interview with Khaled on the occasion of his Dolce & Gabbana capsule collection, which, for the record, is incredibly tacky and altogether delightful—the perfect wardrobe for me, if I managed to marry up and move to Miami to live out the rest of my days in an air-conditioned palace by the ocean with my three Bichon Frises, We, The, and Greatest. In this fantasy, I live near DJ Khaled and speak to his wife, Nicole, frequently, mostly to check in to see if her husband is still not eating pussy. We laugh. We have a drink. I say hello to Asahd, and then hop on my Sea-Doo and head back to my home, to give my old-ass husband a whatever before toddling off to bed.

Anyway, DJ Khaled’s doing great, guys. Honestly. He is! Skimming the interview and then remembering Khaled’s 2018 brush with Weight Watchers made me realize that the real key to fixing the body positivity movement so that it works for everybody is to kneel at the throne of DJ Khaled, who is my new body positivity icon.

Here’s Khaled on the silk shirts he favors and why:

The bright printed silk shirt is the centerpiece, and that’s an item that’s become your signature. Why?

I always love doing things with confidence. I’m not the slimmest guy—I’m not the biggest guy, but I don’t got a six-pack. But at the same time, I look in the mirror and I’m like, Man, I’m gorgeous, I’m beautiful. And the silk shirt gives me what my mind is thinking. Say I want to unbutton it and have my belly hanging out in the top-off Maybach, with the wind blowing. The way the wind blows the shirt, it’s just gorgeous, it’s beautiful. When I step out, I step out big.

Look, I, too, wish to have my belly hanging out in the top-off Maybach, with Italian silk fluttering in the breeze. This isn’t toxic positivity, it is genuine. Also genuine is Khaled’s take on diet culture, which is much healthier and somehow more informed than another famous person who has recently run her mouth about the very same things.

Khaled’s clothing line will go up to a size 60 in Italian sizing, which is largely unheard of! That’s because Khaled wants to make clothing that will fit as many bodies as possible, including his own. And he has a healthy philosophy about his own weight, and he’s speaking about it frankly in a way that I find refreshing.

I’m curious how you feel when people say you are a symbol of big-man swag—is that something you wear proudly?

For sure. What I learned in life is, like, I’m beautiful. And people sometimes joke on me like, “Yo, Khaled, you’ve been working out your whole life, and you don’t lose no weight.” I say, “First of all, that’s because I don’t lose. I win.” All I do is win.

Then when you see me working out, it’s not just to get some pounds off. It goes back to what we were saying—when you work out and you eat good, it gives you the glow. I’m not always working out just to get rid of weight. Sometimes yes, I do, and I do get rid of the weight. But then it comes back, like a normal human being. And then you got to get rid of it again.

But I am representing the big-man swag. That’s who I am, and I’m cool with it and I’m blessed with it.

Incredible that Khaled has managed to flip the script by spinning the nightmarish act of stepping on a scale as a win no matter what. If you think of yourself as a winner in perpetuity, then any actual loss you incur is still a win somehow, if you can find the little kernel of positivity that lies within. Is this akin to religion? Maybe! I don’t care. DJ Khaled’s Church of Radical Body Neutrality-Positivity and Positivity, open your doors to me. I am ready to be bathed in your light.