Khalid: An ‘American Teen’ Grows Up Fast
TWO YEARS AGO, Khalid Robinson was an unknown 18-year-old in El Paso, Texas. Today, he’s a pop phenomenon, thanks to his excellent 2017 debut, American Teen, a snapshot of adolescent heartache and longing that recently went doubleplatinum. The past two years have included five Grammy nominations, encounters with heroes like Alicia Keys (“She said that she loved my mind”) and the heartbreaking death of a beloved dog, Roxy. Through it all, music kept pouring out of him — an EP, several high-profile guest spots, a track with Elton John, and now, a new full-length due early this year. “I’ve written these songs all over the world — in hotel rooms, tour buses, backstage,” he says. The not-yet-titled album will likely take after Khalid’s 2018 EP, Suncity, mixing pop, soul and singer-songwriter material. (Khalid cites Fleetwood Mac and Father John Misty as influences, among others.) Now just shy of his 21st birthday, Khalid has a new dog, Maui, and big hopes for his future. “I’ve learned how to talk about my anxieties in music,” he says. “A lot of people my age are struggling with being themselves in the world. I want to let them know I feel the same things.”