Billboard Canada cover star Khalid is getting ready to show off his more mature and authentic self in his fourth album, and he sits down to share his reaction to being outed online, wanting to be an inspiration to young, queer boys, his growth since ‘American Teen’ and more!
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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.