MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
DJ Khaled is best known for his MegaMix cuts and many catchphrases.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WILD THOUGHTS")
DJ KHALED: (Rapping) We the best music.
MARTIN: But now he's added one more line to his resume - Airbnb host. Last week, in collaboration with the company, he invited guests to Miami to book a cozy getaway in a closet. But it's way cooler than that. It's actually a replica of the hip-hop star's massive sneaker closet, and it holds hundreds of shoes. Daniel Wubneh was one of the lucky guests. He's a 42-year-old cardiologist who lives in Florida, and he says he's been a DJ Khaled fan for 20 years.
DANIEL WUBNEH: I first started listening to DJ Khaled back in my college years when he first was working with, you know, Terror Squad and was doing a lot of collaborations, as he still is now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LEAN BACK")
FAT JOE: (Rapping) Yeah. Throw your hands in the air right now, man.
WUBNEH: I've grown up with his music. I've always been a hip-hop fan. I respected his work ethic, his drive, his dedication to his art form. And so as his music has transcended over time, I've also - feel like I've grown up with it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LEAN BACK")
FAT JOE: (Rapping) We from the Bronx, New York.
MARTIN: So when Dan and his wife, Katrina (ph), read about the DJ Khaled Airbnb, they immediately set reminders for the moment the booking window opened. Jumping online during a lunch break, Daniel got his foot in the door, so to speak.
WUBNEH: It was almost, like, an out-of-body experience. And so I text my wife, and I was like, I think I got this. And she's like, are you sure? Are you serious? And I said, yeah. And so I was, like, sending her screenshots to, like, confirm it. It was surreal. It was almost like a, you know, a feeling of disbelief. So we walk in. There's a projector that's - basically has a screenshot of album covers and playing songs of his. And one of them was "God Did," which is one of my favorites.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOD DID")
DJ KHALED: (Rapping) DJ Khaled.
FRIDAYY: (Singing) They wanted us down, but look at us now.
WUBNEH: And so we just kind of was sitting there, like, walking around in awe. We instantly took pictures.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOD DID")
FRIDAYY: (Singing) They didn't think that we would make it.
WUBNEH: There was a song that features SZA.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BEAUTIFUL")
SZA: (Singing) I took a flight for the Patek. You said, bae, you're so dramatic, I guess.
WUBNEH: And as you walk around the room, you're listening to his music, looking at his shoes, you know, sitting on a bed. And there's, like, two pairs of Jordans for my wife and I sitting on the bed with a card written out to us, you know, handwritten by him. So the whole experience - I mean, it was like a sensory overload but at the same time, living in the moment.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BEAUTIFUL")
FUTURE: (Singing) Any time I leave out on tour, don't be plotting. Every time I'm leaving out that door, she talk feisty.
WUBNEH: It's more than a closet. It feels like a very large bedroom. And there is a large mahogany wood shelves that surrounds the entire room, and they're completely filled with his shoes. And these are all his real shoes, and they're all in size 11. And they're various types of shoes from all - I mean, almost every Jordan you could ever think of is there. So it is - yes, it is a sneaker closet, but it's so much more than that. It was - spacewise, it felt like a suite.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M ON ONE")
DJ KHALED: (Rapping) DJ Khaled.
DRAKE: (Singing) I'm getting so throwed.
WUBNEH: It was just one of those things where you're like, I - this may never happen again. So, you know, you want to live in the moment and just try to soak it up.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG ENERGY")
DJ KHALED: (Rapping) This the remix.
MARTIN: That was Dr. Daniel Wubneh. He was talking about his experience staying in an Airbnb replica of DJ Khaled's sneaker closet.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG ENERGY")
LATTO: (Singing) Mimi. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
