DJ Khaled Explains What Really Happened During That Electric Daisy Fiasco

DJ Khaled tells his side of the story after his botched set at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.

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DJ Khaled has been winning a whole lot in 2017, but his recent set at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas was an unmitigated disaster. Sound issues ruined what was supposed to be an extended set for Khaled, and after a brief period of performing, he got bumped off the stage in favor of other scheduled artists.

Khaled wants to make one thing clear about the mishap—it had nothing to do with his professionalism or timeliness, regardless of what you might be hearing from other people. During an extended interview with Power 106 in Los Angeles, Khaled addressed rumors that he didn't show up on time for his set and said he's always on time for his performances.

"I actually sat backstage for an hour, just sitting there in a chair like this, and you can see on my Snapchat I was there way early, excited to perform," he said. "When I got backstage to the part where it's time to perform...they didn't have my turntables. How am I supposed to DJ without my turntables? I use turntables, vinyl, Serrato, I use turntables, they didn't have them. No problem, just get it hooked up."

Though he claimed to keep a positive attitude, Khaled said several other red flags were raised throughout the day. For example, he claimed EDC organizers wouldn't allow him and his team to do a sound check before the show—he admits no other artist did one, either—and he said that by the time they eventually sorted out the issue with his turntables, he was informed by a member of the EDC crew that he was only going to have about 10 to 15 minutes of stage time. 

Khaled told Power 106 he considered walking away, but ultimately, he wanted to perform for his fans.

"Another artist would have been like, 'Yo, I'm not performing, because it's not right.' And to be honest with you, I should have [done] that and put a message out to the fans saying it's out of my control," he said. "But instead, I heard the fans chanting my name, showing me love. I was like, 'Cool, I'm going to go out, at least let me go out in front of the stage, talk to the fans and perform some songs.'"

After some other technical shenanigans, Khaled eventually had his performance cut off, despite his best effort to power through it. Though he says he doesn't want to blame the EDC people, he does want to make sure people know there was no lack of effort on his part.

"If the sound don't work, I can't control that, and I don't even want to blame EDC because I'm a good person, stuff happens," he said. "Was I frustrated about it not sounding good? Of course I was, but at the end of the day, life goes on, it's not a big deal. At least the people see me there, and I'm telling you the truth. But I like when people are honest, and whoever put the messaging out saying I wasn't there, that's dishonesty."

You'll have to decide for yourself whether you believe Khaled's side of the story or not. You can watch the full clip of him talking about the incident above, with his EDC explanation starting at around the 23:15 mark.

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