In his public Snapchat stories, which span the full arc of his day in and around his Miami home, DJ Khaled shows an innate understanding of narrative, and a grasp of how to brand an idea instantly: say, watering his plants, which he calls his “angels”; greeting the lion statue in his garden, shouting “Lion!”; or running the camera over the length of his body and landing on a fresh pair of sneakers, punctuating the moment with “Another one!” “Special cloth” is the all-purpose term he uses to describe anything fancy or impressive. Each day, he invites viewers to “walk with me on the pathway to more success” as he films his feet. (You’ll never be as familiar with a star’s feet as with his.)

He even has a familiar supporting cast: Chef Dee, his personal cook, who prepares meals with an unimpressed air; Benjamin Kickz, his teenage sneaker dealer; and the Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who seems to have ample free time to lounge by DJ Khaled’s fire pit. And of course there’s DJ Khaled’s wife, who is often heard but not seen; sometimes he’ll train the camera on himself as he’s whisper-barking declarations of dedication to her. Whether her eyes are rolling or her eyelashes fluttering, we don’t know.

Other hip-hop artists tend to use Snapchat as a more blatantly promotional tool, or at least aren’t as comfortable spotlighting their moment-to-moment activities. But DJ Khaled has no such inhibitions. He films himself, nimbly, while in the shower. He shoots himself slathering his body with cocoa butter. He posts clips of his pedicures and massages. A recent story line revolved around the installation of a new hammock: “It took me over 25 years blood, sweat and tears to swing in this hammock.” He once referred to his genitalia as “the theory.” (With the evanescence built into Snapchat, it can sometimes be difficult, the morning after, to distinguish real life from fever dream, but he did indeed say that.)

Several times he has filmed himself as he’s receiving speeding tickets out on the ocean. One recent afternoon, he recorded himself as he was lost at sea — it was genuinely riveting, and also comic.

Image Chilling at the fire pit, wearing a catchphrase. Credit...

What you rarely see DJ Khaled doing is working. Maybe that’s because there are corporate secrets he’s protecting, or maybe that’s because there has always been something ineffable about his success. He doesn’t produce or rap or sing on the many hits he’s released — instead, he serves as a Greek chorus of chest-puffing, shouting catchphrases that become hip-hop essentials.