Usain Bolt wants to be like DJ Khaled in music

Usain Bolt dominated track and field, and he’s hoping to do the same with music.

Speaking to sportscaster, author, and sports historian Jim Gray in a Twitter Space for non-fungible token (NFT) platform, Autograph, ahead of his NFT release today, Bolt says he has big goals in music.

“I want to go to the top. I want to get Grammys off my music, platinum albums, and that’s what we’re working on. I’ve been in music now [for] like one year, and I think now people are seeing that I’m serious about music,” said Bolt.

Not a singer, Bolt said he admires popular record executive and record producer DJ Khaled and says he hopes his career has the same trajectory.

“Now for me, I produce music. I don’t sing. My best friend does, but I know my ability. I’m not a singer, you know what I mean, so I want to be like a DJ Khaled. A person that loves music, makes proper albums, links up with different musicians, and stuff like that, so it’s just a different energy, and that’s what I’m focusing on. I love seeing the energy and the way DJ Khaled is as a person, and I know I’m that person, so I’m just taking my time, working my way up to that,” he said.

Dubbed, Tracks and Records, the same name as the global restaurant chain he co-founded, the NFT will feature five of the retired sprint superstar’s records, including the 9.69 world record set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 19.19 and 9.58 world records set in 2009 at the World Championships in Athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. All five track records will be set to his “favourite music” from his Country Yutes debut album. The Autograph digital collection will also include his signature lightning pose.

THE WAY FORWARD

Calling the NFT space “massive”, he hailed it as the way forward and is grateful that he now has another way to connect and engage with his fans and even his children when they grow up.

Though he pursued track and field for much of his life, Bolt says music has always been part of him. “I knew at some point I would end up in music because I started out when I was younger. My dad would take me to round robins in Jamaica, where it’s just old-school music. We’ll go to [dances] in Jamaica,” said Bolt.

The older he got, the more he got involved with the music scene, moving from dancing and networking to playing as a selector. “I started DJing for a while like after the after-parties [of] like meets and stuff, so I’m really just into music, and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do, even before I retired,” said Bolt. With little to do during the pandemic, he said it was the perfect opportunity to get started.

Country Yutes, a collaboration between Bolt and best friend and executive manager Nugent’ NJ’ Walker Jr, was released on Bolt’s A-Team Lifestyle imprint in September 2021.