Reggae artist Sizzla Kalonji says he and DJ Khaled did not have a falling out over money as he addressed the incident in which he is seen burning the plaques he received from collaborating with the We The Best Music head.
In December 2022, Sizzla appeared angry as he explained that DJ Khaled had “insulted” him. He was seen tearing up plaques, including the one received for his ‘Father of Asahd’ collaboration, which had his name written in a small font.
“Asahd di boss. bun that. yuh insult me. Yuh not the best, you di worse. Weh you feel like DJ Khaled, yuh can style Sizzla? ah me buss you, man, August Town buss yuh. jokey jokey,” the reggae artist ranted.
Sizzla is the godfather of Khaled’s oldest child. It’s unclear if the men have mended their relationship, as the Palestinian-American artist has been seen with other Jamaican artists over the last two years. In recent times, he has instead chosen to vacation in Barbados and the Bahamas, bypassing Jamaica for the first time.
In explaining his actions, Sizzla told The Fix podcast that “there is no business issue” between him and Khaled.
“There is no business issue with burning the plaque with Khaled, I haven’t been in the realm of sorting out any business issue. The whole principle about it was that I can’t see my name with this miniature font and it was my name that you love so much that had brought you to that stage so why I can’t see my name? My name represents Jamaica,” the artist said.
“Sizzla is still Jamaica, and Jamaica is Sizzla. So why is it your name is so big, and I can’t see my name? I’m gonna have problem with my people. My people are gonna say it was that name, the little name that got you the big name?” he said.
The artist added that the only thing he had was his name.
“If you say Sizzla people will look to see Sizzla. Put my name big as yours that’s good. You wouldn’t have any problem.”
When asked if he had called Khaled to explain his problem with the plaque, the “Just One of Those Days,” singer said that it shouldn’t have to be noted as it is a matter of respect.
When asked if he and Khaled were in a good space, the artist couldn’t seem to recall.
“DJ Khaled always been reaching out, good soul,” Sizzla said noting that he was not there to bash Khaled, he only wanted his name bigger on the plaque. The artist also said he expected that handing over the plaque would be a fancy event with the media present, which would be good for unity and the music business.
“That’s really disrespectful like that. If you do my name like that what would you do with Bob Marley name? what would you do with Buju name? my name is big so you should put my name in some size, stop messing around, it’s real serious here. A lot of things are being attached to that what you did there but we not gonna say it,” the conscious artist said.
Although he didn’t want to go into details, Sizzla hinted that he might be upset that he was on Khaled’s projects, but the American producer has not been on any of his tracks.
“According to what we inked in the contract, the agreement you should be doing some other stuff, and there’s nothing being done on our part,” he said.
He continued, “Don’t throw stones behind you. Don’t push down your brother who had helped you to get somewhere. Don’t do that. In a sense, it’s like you’re really throwing disrespect in the face of the Jamaican public by doing that to Sizzla… we as artists we’re gonna think a bit differently, like that’s how you’ve been treating reggae artists from Jamaica like you looking down on us like we’re nothing, don’t do that.”
