Exploration 6 - Shana de Wet

      An influential music artist that has impacted me is Khalid. His full name is Khalid Donnel Robinson, but he is famously known to his fans and the public as Khalid. He is young compared to many famous music artists in the industry, as he is only 20 years old, but he writes a lot of music and features on many other artists’ songs. The main genre for his music is contemporary R&B, but sometimes he has Hip-Hop/Rap songs with other famous artists.
      I first started listening to Khalid about a year and a half ago when his first album, “American Teen,” was released. It consisted of 15 songs, many of which are love songs. I immediately fell in love with the album, and since releasing “American Teen” he has featured in other songs with artists like Alina Baraz, 6LACK, Normani, Ty Dolla $ign, and Halsey, among others. His newest single “Better,” released only a few weeks ago, is currently ranked as his #4 best song and is currently on the Billboard Hot 100.

click here to listen to "Better" by Khalid

Khalid posing for Billboard and the announcement of his first album release.

      One of the things I love about Khalid is that he tries really hard to be involved with his fans and respond to what they have to say. He is active on Twitter and Instagram and is constantly replying to fans and interacting with them on social media. Of course, it is nearly impossible for him to reply to every single thing that someone says, but he puts in the effort to respond to quite a few and I think that shows something about his character. Many famous artists do not interact with their fans whatsoever, but Khalid does and I appreciate him for that.
      Khalid’s audience is definitely younger people, especially teenagers. Through his music, he really relates to teenagers and what they get themselves into, whether it be falling in love or simply spending time with friends. Personally, I love Khalid’s music because even though all of his music is generally the same genre, he can have me jamming in my car and singing at the top of my lungs during one song, and crying during another. His songs have a uniqueness about them; none of the songs are different variations of the same lyrics or beat.
      I think that Khalid is definitely an influential artist of our time—especially for younger generations—and I adore his music. There are rumors that he has a new album coming out soon, and I am anxiously awaiting it. I highly recommend that young people listen to his music because he has found a way to really understand what we go through and write songs about it.

Word Count: 459

Resources:

https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7793203/khalid-announces-american-teen-tour

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8475135/khalid-better-listen