00:00I'm excited to hopefully inspire little gay black boys that look like me to
00:03become what the odds set against us. I'm really excited to inspire little gay
00:07black boys to be become pop stars because we need you. We need gay black
00:11pop stars.
00:17How you feeling my friend? I'm good thank you for having me. Well we are happy to
00:21have you but I gotta ask you right away tell me about your favorite Billboard
00:24moment like a time past, present, future even that you might have charted or
00:29want to chart. My favorite Billboard moment had to be my first ever moment on
00:35Billboard with Location I mean that song to me is just one of those songs that I'm
00:46grateful to even have gotten a chance to write it's one of those songs that kind
00:50of came to me and so to see that success and to know that people are still bumping
00:54location almost nearly ten years later it's really exciting. Yeah and I mean to
01:00have a hit like that and then have continued to have hits you're a lucky
01:03man and now you got new music coming out so tell me about All I Know. All I Know
01:06Rudimental I want to thank them for having me be a part of the song it's
01:11really awesome I love EDM music and I listen to it on my own time so anytime
01:15that I'm able to experiment and explore with my sound and try new things I'm
01:19always willing to so I really love that song so much when you're working on your
01:28own new music you're creating an album I mean you've had different journeys in
01:32your career where you want to arrive now for me I want to arrive in my complete
01:38and total essence of myself not only as a person but as an artist I feel like I'm
01:44ready to take steps into my maturity and really focusing on coining my sound for
01:50what it really is. And you said stepping into your maturity this is your fourth
01:53album which is crazy how have you seen the growth how is Khalid a different
01:57person between the now and then? I actually listened to American Teen for
02:01the first time in years and to hear myself in this premature state wow I was so
02:09hopeful and at that time I would have thought that I knew it all but there was
02:14still so much more to learn still so much more to grow and so now I feel like
02:18I'm coming into myself as a 27 year old nearly 10 years after I wrote my first
02:22song on American Teen so it's it's an advanced process I will say. Yeah you kind
02:29of flipping through a lot of genres I mean pop Latin rock R&B country you've done it
02:34all so how do you make sure you keep true to yourself even when you're in
02:38different genres? I think that although I dabble in other genres like pop and
02:44EDM and alternative I feel like R&B really lives in my core and I feel like
02:51you can't turn away from the tone that I carry and that's something that I really
02:56embrace if I'm gonna go into all these other pockets in these genres I have to
03:00make sure that I'm staying authentic to myself and my sound while I'm doing it.
03:03Is there a pocket you haven't been in yet a genre you kind of might want to
03:06dabble in? K-pop. K-pop. You talking my language. I love K-pop. I feel like it's a genre I haven't tapped into but you know I'm an avid listener so I would love to one day.
03:19Is there an artist that you particularly are drawn to in the K-pop audience?
03:25Aespa. Ooh Aespa those are my girls. I love Aespa. Supernova. Hey that's my genre.
03:32I do want to talk to you a little bit about like your personal life and how that's changed a lot for you lately.
03:42Obviously you were outed publicly and then that caused you to talk about it yourself.
03:46Right. So to make that decision to say I'm gonna take control of my narrative how was that for you?
03:50Exciting. I'm happy. Shit. Can I say shit?
03:53You can say whatever you want man. I'm like I love being gay. I'm excited. I'm excited to be myself.
03:58That was a positive way that you were able to take that situation but did it hurt you at all to have someone like talking about you online without your permission?
04:05Yeah it's always hurtful but for me I'm always a big believer that the things that other people do don't determine who you are as an individual within yourself.
04:14And for me I love preaching positivity and my fans know I'm really vocal about being positive and remaining positive and persevering.
04:23So I like to look at it as just rising to the occasion being yourself and turning a negative situation to a positive one.
04:30And I love that you said like when you were speaking out you said like hey before I didn't think I needed to say anything because that's nobody's business.
04:36But then now of course we know what happens with artists.
04:39Right. And they'll start calling you a gay artist all of a sudden you're LGBTQ artist.
04:42Does that change your perspective on anything at all having that label?
04:45No. Because I was gay when I made American Teen.
04:50Right. And then I feel like Satellite is one of those songs that your fans have now went back and listened to.
04:55Yeah.
04:56And was like oh it's queer coded.
04:57Do you remember when you wrote Satellite?
04:58Oh yeah.
04:59And I do.
05:00And for me artistically those are the conversations that I have with my team that no one knows.
05:13Where I'm like let me just sprinkle this little nugget over here and let people know okay alright.
05:19And I embrace all of those even Skyline you know wearing pink and blue the balance of my feminine and masculine energy that I carry within me.
05:27I'm always a big believer in experimenting and having fun with life and so to have fun to be queer.
05:35Yeah it's all about the duality there.
05:37Exactly.
05:44Let's talk about Canada because I feel like you have a very special relationship with Canada as a whole.
05:48I mean you've had 40 hits on their charts.
05:50Right.
05:51That's wild in itself.
05:52And you've worked with a lot of other Canadian artists like Tate McRae.
05:55You've worked with Shawn Mendes.
05:56So tell me about your relationship with Canada.
05:58It's actually funny when I lived in Northern New York around my high school time I actually lived near a town called Watertown which is 30 miles away from Canada.
06:07So I spent four years of my life feeling that Canadian cold.
06:14And I really vibe with the energy up there and I feel like I can really relate to the energy up there in many ways in many aspects because in a way it's like I was raised down the street.
06:25Are the crowds different there when you play shows?
06:27I love performing in Canada because I feel like it's a country that honestly I feel like especially being most of the population being on the lower end of Canada.
06:37I feel like it deserves more love.
06:39Like I feel like you know I want to do more shows in Canada.
06:42Hell yeah to that.
06:43And I mean you've traveled a lot.
06:44You're an army brat.
06:45Yeah.
06:46So you've lived in a lot of different places.
06:47Has that influenced your culture, your sound?
06:49Oh definitely.
06:50Being military has influenced me so much.
06:52Has allowed me to enjoy my eclecticness and kind of even hone into some of my pop elements that I have.
07:00You're talking about pop elements.
07:01You just did a cover of Please Please Please Sabrina Carpenter.
07:04Come on.
07:05Please Please Please Don't bring me to tears when I just did my makeup so nice.
07:13That was beautiful.
07:14So what made you decide to do that song?
07:15Because I genuinely love the song and I love Sabrina Carpenter and I'm so proud of her success and everything that she's done.
07:22And I really feel like she prides herself in her lyricism and I think it's just an incredible song.
07:28It's a song that's hard not to sing.
07:29So I love it.
07:30And I feel like we can talk about so many different pockets and genres with you because even like UK rave music.
07:35Right.
07:36You've had an experience with.
07:37So what was it about that scene that you were drawn to?
07:39Um, UK rave.
07:41I mean that's everything I want to be a part of.
07:44Um, it's to me is, it reminds me of the nights out that I have with my friends and hanging out and listening to music and being a little rager.
07:55Oh, I see.
07:56You were talking about being an R&B guy.
07:57So now I'm knowing you're a rager too.
07:59On the low though.
08:00On the low.
08:01And what's your connection to Latin music?
08:03Is there anybody in that world that you want to collaborate with or reach out to?
08:06Latin music, um, I really love Carol G.
08:11And I feel like my love for her really stems to seeing her perform at Coachella in 2022.
08:18That was a good one.
08:20It was really good.
08:21That was good.
08:22So good.
08:23It was some of my first moments being introduced to her music, but seeing her crowd control and the way that she handled it.
08:30And there was one cover of Como La Flor that she sang that was just incredible.
08:37And I love that you can still look at artists and learn from them.
08:39Exactly.
08:40That you're like a student of someone else.
08:41That's amazing.
08:42I loved watching her.
08:43So I thought it was incredible.
08:45Yeah.
08:46And then I'm also saying here, you have 12 certifications in France.
08:49So clearly also a really big deal there.
08:51What's your connection to your fans there?
08:53Why do you think it's special?
08:54I love France.
08:56Being raised in Europe for six years of my life as a child, I'm really connected with a lot of European countries and cities.
09:05But France to me, it just has this level of, it's the romance about it all that I feel really connected to.
09:11So I love France and hopefully I see y'all sometime soon.
09:15And you've been an American teen, then a free spirit, and eventually just sincere.
09:24So in one or two words, who is Khalid today?
09:26Grown.
09:27Grown.
09:28He said, I'm 27 and I'm a grown ass man.
09:32Grown man.
09:33Grown man.
09:34I love that.
09:35And has there ever been a strange or funny moment on stage where like something happened, unexpected, technical issue?
09:40Like what's one of those stories?
09:41Oh my God.
09:42When I was first performing and doing shows, I used to do this thing during 18 where I would jump and hit a toe touch.
09:51I don't know why I was doing this, guys.
09:53A toe touch?
09:54I was adventurous.
09:55I was young.
09:56I don't know why.
09:57Did you cheer in high school or something?
09:58No, I actually didn't.
09:59I just was like, the energy is just, I just need to get it out.
10:02It was there.
10:03It was there.
10:04And I ripped my pants.
10:06And that was actually the last toe touch I've ever hit in my life.
10:09So.
10:10You've been having so much fun lately.
10:11I love seeing you on Jennifer Hudson.
10:13And you were one of the first people, I think, to do the spirit tunnel.
10:21So what was that process like?
10:22Did they like prep you and be like, hey, you got to come down with this like energy because it's become such a thing now.
10:26I didn't practice the choreo.
10:27That was just impromptu on the spot, but it was so much fun.
10:31I'm Jennifer Hudson.
10:32I want to thank you so much for giving me your platform to speak about my project.
10:36And I love the energy.
10:37I love seeing people dance and live their life and have fun.
10:40So maybe I'll come back another time.
10:42This time, I'm going to have a little practice.
10:44A little one, two, three.
10:53You've done movies.
10:54We've done Love, Simon, Charlie's Angels, The Old Guard.
10:56What's your dream world?
10:57What's something else you want to do?
10:58I used to do musical theater in high school.
11:01So maybe something involving being behind the camera one day.
11:05I don't know.
11:06We're not there yet, but every day is a step towards my confidence.
11:08So maybe you'll see me on the big screen one day.
11:11I mean, you just said one of my favorite things, musical theater.
11:13So what's one of your favorite Broadway shows?
11:15Who would you want to be?
11:16I will never forget being casted as Seaweed in Hairspray in high school.
11:21Oh my God, Seaweed.
11:22Black of the beard.
11:23And that was an incredible performance that shaped me as well as a creative.
11:31Nice.
11:32And how do you feel about how technology is shaping people as a creative?
11:35Now we have like AI jumping in.
11:36Have you heard like people do AI covers of you?
11:38Or like, how's that whole vibe?
11:40Because I keep being like, how does this feel to be an artist in this world?
11:43I've actually never heard any AI Khalid cover.
11:47I feel like I don't want to sound like an unk or an uncle.
11:52You cannot sound like an unk at 27.
11:54Stop it.
11:55I just feel like I'm just so phased out.
11:57I'm like, chat GPT, what is this?
11:59I have no clue.
12:00And I mean, also, you know, there's so much going on politically as well in the world,
12:04not just with technology.
12:05So being black, being queer and being in such a crazy world right now,
12:09like how do you balance that?
12:10Taking time and giving myself grace and checking on my friends, most importantly,
12:16and making sure that I have a community that supports me, that looks like me,
12:20that thinks like me, that feels what I feel.
12:24I think it's all about just checking in on your community and keeping the people that you love close.
12:30What's something you feel like you've sacrificed to be where you are today?
12:34I never went to college.
12:38Would you have wanted to do that?
12:39I mean, okay, okay.
12:42Would I want to go back to school one day?
12:43Like the fraternity world?
12:44Like what part of it?
12:45I feel like I was, if I wasn't doing what I was doing now,
12:48I really would have loved to go into music education.
12:50I really would have loved to be a music teacher.
12:53And maybe that's something that I go back in and explore and put a certificate behind my knowledge.
12:59And maybe open a school of music one day.
13:01You're talking about being a music educator.
13:03I mean, your mom also sings.
13:04So what's like y'all's vibe?
13:06Like what's something y'all sing together?
13:08My mom can sing everything under the sun, but I will never forget singing Brandy.
13:15Like Brandy, Brandy, Brandy, Brandy.
13:17I grew up with Brandy in the House.
13:18Full Moon is one of my favorite albums.
13:20So good.
13:21The vocal bible right here.
13:23And my mom is incredible.
13:25She's, I always say she's way better than me.
13:27So maybe I'll get my mom on a song one day.
13:29I think that would be really nice.
13:30Oh, you gotta do that.
13:31What are you passionate about?
13:32What's something outside of music that keeps you going?
13:34I'm passionate about living life to the fullest of my capabilities and traveling, actually.
13:42I'm really passionate about traveling and that's something that I want to do more.
13:45And for me, I'm like, what better way than to release so much more music that I'm kind of forced to travel and see the world.
13:52I like that perspective.
13:53So hopefully sometime soon I can go on tour and touch the fans in person and see y'all and do something I love.
14:01That's amazing, man.
14:02I want to leave you with one thing.
14:03Khalid is...
14:05That guy.
14:06There you go, man.
14:07Well, thanks so much for hanging out with Billboard.
14:09I really appreciate you.
14:10Thank you so much.
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