Khalid Donnel Robinson, better known as Khalid is an American pop/R&B singer and songwriter. He was born on February 11, 1998 in Fort Stewart, Georgia and became extremely popular after debuting his song, “Location”.
Texan Artist or not?
In short, Khalid is not necessarily “from” Texas since he was born in Fort Stewart, GA. However, he constantly refers to El Paso, Texas as his home despite having moved to different cities due to his mother’s military involvement. So, although he wasn’t born there and didn’t live there throughout his life, El Paso clearly holds a special place in Khalid’s heart and I am here to figure out why that is.
Beginning of his Musical Career
Growing up, music was always part of Khalid’s upbringing as he grew up on music influenced by his mother’s love of 90s R&B and participation in the US Army Chorus. He frequently moved around – living on military bases in Kentucky, New York and even Heidelberg, Germany. However, his mother got transferred to a reservation in Fort Bliss in Texas which prompted them to pick up everything and move to El Paso, TX. He moved there in the during his junior year of high school in 2015.
His Rise to Fame
So where did Khalid come from? It honestly feels like he came onto the music scene out of nowhere. But of course, all things are delicately intertwined. Khalid opened up about how exactly he got discovered. Location was uploaded to SoundCloud in April 2016 and commercially in May 2016 when he was only 18 years old. The song blew up when Kylie Jenner posted it on her Snapchat story as she showed scenery flying by while riding in her car. With that, Khalid was given the best gift a high school senior could wish for – a way out of going to college. After playing the song it got extremely popular and soon he was flying out to be signed to a record label and put out his first album, American Teen shortly after.
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx4DbziR8HnCa5diJ_uZ3thY0EfCH8vI3Y
Khalid often notes that people did not really believe in him. He had always enjoyed music but never thought to take it seriously until a group of friends he’d met while in El Paso began pushing him to do so.
El Paso
The young artist’s first album, American Teen, is largely based on how he views himself as he refers to himself as an “American teen” a lot and even went to Americas High School. Khalid has accredited his success largely to El Paso, stating in an interview with Apple’s Zane Lowe that, “El Paso is where I got my start as an artist. If I didn’t move to El Paso I wouldn’t have written my first song that I did” (Fischer). Moving to El Paso, Khalid didn’t know anyone and often felt lonely. When speaking with Jordan Breal, a contributor from Texas Monthly, he notes that he transformed his lonely feelings into inspiration as he was inspired by the city’s geography (which we hear a lot of in many of his songs).
The people he’d met in high school played a big role in the reason why he is successful today because of their unwavering support.
One of his more recent albums, Sun City, a nickname for the city of El Paso, has been penned as a sort of love letter to the place he calls home. In one the songs, “9.13” there is a short audio of the mayor, Dee Margo featured.
- Fun fact: The audio of Mayor Margo on “9.13” is from when he gave Khalid the key to the city in 2018.
Further, a song on his album titled “Sun City” featuring Empress Of is sung in Spanish in the beginning – the words,
“Llévame a Ciudad del Sol Llévame, Llévame, donde deje mi corazón”
which translates to “Take me to Suncity, Take me, Take me where I left my heart”. The song is sung in Spanish to acknowledge the city’s close proximity to the Texas-Mexico border and to express a longing to return back to the place one holds dear to their heart. In addition, the cover art for the song features a home in El Paso on Kentucky Street and Arizona Avenue.
His most recent EP, Scenic Drive, references a spot in El Paso that he’d visit and look at the beautiful city sky scape. He described the spot as, “one of those places you go with your friends and you park on the side and you hop out the car and you just sit in awe of how beautiful the city is.” (Fischer).
He also makes subtle references to his hometown within his music. His single “Present” which dropped in 2021, cover art is a picture of him in front of a store with the El Paso area code (915) in big brown font. In the music of the song, you can see landmarks such as Scenic Drive, the Star on the Mountain, and I-10. The song itself has basically nothing to do with El Paso but of course, Khalid finds a way to shout out his home.
So.. is there “Texan-ness” in his music?
Khalid is different from other Texan artists we’ve covered in this class because he doesn’t make blatant references about other Texans in his songs nor does he draw from the most notable styles associated with Texas such as country and folk music.
However, there are definitely some elements of Texan-ness within his songs, specifically Texan pride.
He derives from the R&B side with an alternative and modern take on music. He incorporates a lot of ballads into his music and speaks of love and heartbreak in a reflective way (in contrast to honky tonk music). He also makes reference to spots in Texas within his music which I have seen with many other artists we have discussed in this class (The Chicks, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings). Khalid artfully incorporates landmarks or places in El Paso through cover art for his singles and albums, and in music videos as well. There are lots of references to driving which makes a lot of sense due to Texas’ large size and landscape. I also notice that the people of El Paso really admire and love Khalid. In an interview with Power 98.3’s Tino Cochino, he mentions that “they rock with you until the wheels fall off”. This reminds me of the southern hospitality we spoke about earlier in class and how friendly people from Texas can be (until you do something they don’t like). He receives a lot of love from them and seems to genuinely feel supported by them, even going as far as to consider them as family.
Fun fact: Khalid is signed with RCA Records – a record label that famous country star and Ernest Tubb’s idol, Jimmie Rodgers was also signed to.
His Sound
Khalid’s music is surely in the realm of R&B but with an edge to it. His music is soulful and is enhanced by his low, beritone voice. He incorporates what sounds like electronic synthesizers, and bass guitar into his music to give it that “deep” vibe.
If I could describe his music in one word I would say “smooth”. His voice, the music, beat, and lyrics are always so in sync and flow so naturally with one another. It is almost silky in a way and often is referred to as “vibey” which is likely due to his lyrics usually having to do with vibing, taking in beautiful scenery, etc.
My Personal Favorites
- Talk
- Retrograde
- Right Back
Sources
Genius. “Empress Of & Khalid – Suncity (Spanish to English Translation).” Genius, Genius Media Group, 19 Oct. 2018, https://genius.com/amp/a/khalid-empress-of-suncity-spanish-to-english-translation-what-are-they-saying. Accessed 20 April 2023.
Huey, Steve. “Khalid Biography.” AllMusic, AllMusic, https://www.allmusic.com/artist/khalid-mn0000095880/biography. Accessed 20 April 2023.
KFOX14. “Khalid.” KFOX14, Sinclair Broadcast Group, 9 Feb. 2017, https://kfoxtv.com/amp/news/local/khalid. Accessed 20 April 2023.
Teen Vogue. “Kylie Jenner and Khalid Used Snapchat’s Location Filter to Meet Up.” Teen Vogue, Condé Nast, 2 May 2018, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/kylie-jenner-khalid-snapchat-location. Accessed 20 April 2023.
Torres, Angie. “El Paso Turned Khalid Into a Star.” Texas Monthly, Texas Monthly, 20 Feb. 2019, https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/el-paso-turned-khalid-star/#:~:text=I%20moved%20from%20New%20York,I%20was%20super%20nervous. Accessed 20 April 2023.
