Who is DJ Hed? The renowned SiriusXM radio host is known for supporting local LA artists and working with Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar – but why did he suggest Snoop Dogg join Trump’s new cabinet?

SiriusXM host DJ Hed is not one to shy away from sharing his opinions – and his latest is sure to ruffle some feathers. In a chat with TMZ Hip Hop this week, the 41-year-old criticised president-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks and joked that if “unconventional” is the theme, Snoop Dogg could be an “ambassador of cool”. However, Hed also made it clear that he’s not keen on musicians entering politics and admitted that he didn’t vote for Trump, saying “I like my politicians with experience.”

Hed’s blunt approach goes beyond politics. On The Bigger Picture podcast, he discussed Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal troubles, highlighting the role of enablers in the industry. “The thing about this case … it’s not even about what he’s doing, right? It’s about the people around that are allowing it to be,” he said, emphasising, “When you don’t hold your homies accountable, [the feds] are gonna come and hold them accountable for you.”

Otherwise known as Aaron Drake Jr, and hailing from Carson, on the outskirts of LA, DJ Hed has risen from humble beginnings. After discovering a passion for music while young and honing his DJ’ing skills as a teenager, he went on to tour with stellar names such as Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar. But who is DJ Hed exactly?

The Coast Guard, as DJ Hed has come to be known, and Chuck Dizzle (real name Charles Dorsey) began Home Grown Radio – a “podcast-turned-internet-based gathering space” – in the early 2000s to highlight under-represented talent. “There was really nothing going on in LA because the radio didn’t really support local artists. So that was our focus,” Hed told the Los Angeles Times in 2019. Starting in an Inglewood apartment, the show featured pivotal moments such as rapper YG’s early interviews and Lamar announcing, from Dizzle’s couch, that he was dropping the rap name K.Dot.