Imagine winning a VMA nomination for Best New Artist in 2018, reaching number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the R&B Billboard, all while just graduating from high school. From the small town of El Paso, Texas, Khalid Donnel Robinson has made this his reality. Raised only by his single-mother who was in the military, Khalid was constantly relocating having lived in Kentucky, New York and even Germany for six years. Throughout these years, his mom had also been trying to pursue her own dream of singing, but her career never took off. When Khalid moved to El Paso for his senior year, little did he know that his life would completely change.

   Khalid first started releasing music on SoundCloud which is a platform for artists to release exclusive samples of music primarily for rising artist. This is where Khalid’s music was discovered, and where his career begun. After his most popular single “Location” received thousands of plays on SoundCloud, the song started charting on multiple platforms until it became one of the most popular songs of 2017. Following the craze from “Location,” Khalid launched the “Location Tour” in his hometown, and completely sold out every venue. Because of the tour’s big success, Khalid was also able to release the “American Teen” album which still has singles on the charts.

Khalid’s most popular songs from the “American Teen” album include “Location,” “Young Dumb & Broke,” and “Saved.” Most of his songs are of personal experiences and perfectly embody the life of the typical American teenager.

   Khalid has had many features on hit makers’ songs and popular artists within the music industry. R&B songs like “The Way” featuring Kendrick Lamar, Swae Lee and Khalid is jumping straight to top of popular music lists because his versatile style allows him to be featured in multiple genres of music. He is a great addition to the music industry and his unique style and musical outlook is something that was very much needed to diversify current music.