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Khalid
American singer (born 1998)
Khalid Donnel Robinson is an American singer and songwriter from El Paso, Texas. He signed with Courtney Stewart's Right Hand Music Group, an imprint of RCA Records to release his 2016 debut single, "Location" and its 2017 follow-up, "Young Dumb & Broke".
Both songs peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, received diamond certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and preceded the release of his debut studio album, American Teen (2017). A critical and commercial success, it received quadruple platinum certification by the RIAA and was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
Robinson was born on February 11, 1998, at Fort Stewart, Georgia. He moved frequently during his childhood due to his parents' military careers. The family lived in Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Fort Drum in Watertown, New York, and spent six years in Heidelberg, Germany. His father passed away during his childhood. His mother, Linda Wolfe, worked as a supply technician and became a member of the Army chorus. In high school, Robinson studied singing and musical theater. He attended Carthage Central High School in Carthage, New York, for his first three years of high school before he and his mother moved to El Paso, Texas, where he attended Americas High School for his senior year; there, he was elected Prom King and voted Most Likely to Go...
Khalid's music has been described as R&B, pop, hip-hop, pop-soul, and bedroom pop. He sings in both the baritone and tenor ranges, effectively rendering him a baritenor. Khalid possesses a two and a half octave vocal range, ranging from the low F2 to the middle B♭4. Khalid cites his mother as his leading musical inspiration and has cited Zayn Malik, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, Father John Misty, Frank Ocean, Grizzly Bear, Chance the Rapper, Lorde, India Arie, and James Blake as other influences.
"Eleven" is a song by American singer Khalid, released on January 11, 2020, from RCA Records. Its remix features American R&B singer Summer Walker, who co-wrote the song alongside Jamil "Digi" Chammas and Simon Says, who also produced the track.
"Love Lies" is a song by American singers Khalid and Normani for the film Love, Simon. It was released through RCA Records on February 14, 2018, as the second single from the film's soundtrack, which was curated by Jack Antonoff.
The song was written by the singers alongside Tayla Parx and producers Charlie Handsome & Digi. It marked Normani's first single release outside of Fifth Harmony.
Background
Normani first hinted at a possible collaboration between her and Khalid via an Instagram post in July 2017. Khalid also opened up about the collaboration during an interview with MTV News the next month. Later, Normani confirmed to Billboard that they were working together on collaboration ideas, calling him "an important artist and a great friend". She divulged to Kode in an interview in October 2017, when asked to share information on the collaboration: Khalid and I have been wanting to work together for some time. We actually got into the studio and were excited about a record we wrote together along with Tayla Parx. It was all one huge vibe session. We wanted to create something that our peers would fall in love with. I remember him...
Composition
Musically, "Love Lies" is an R&B song that contains elements of snap, as well as synths and vocal effects. The song's verses are resigned and have a quaint 1980s sound, laden with a simple finger-click beat and drums. Khalid and Normani's vocals are both in E♭ minor.
Critical reception
Nina Braca of Billboard wrote a positive review of the song, saying: "The romantically curious lyrics perfectly compliment Normani's smooth vocals over a simple guitar riff and slow pop beat." Hugh McIntyre of Fuse deemed the song "a laid-back R&B affair so mature it's difficult to believe the artists behind it are so young and still just getting started in their respective careers". He called the production "a natural progression" for Khalid and something "not far from Normani's comfort zone", and displaying herself as a ”sex symbol”. He also praised the guitar loop, calling it "a nice touch on a beat that is fairly sparse, and at times, nonexistent", writing that "it helps this song stand out among the hundreds of other similar...
Music video
The song's music video premiered on February 16, 2018. It was directed by filmmakers Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz. The video is situated in Downtown Los Angeles. Khalid plays a valet worker at a local hotel while Normani acts as a superstar staying there. It started with the two texting, they plan to meet each other in their "favorite room". Normani later arrives at the scene in a fancy car, Khalid opens her door and she heads up to her room, in which she showed off her dance moves in front of a window, as Khalid enjoys the performance from a nearby rooftop. It ended with the two celebrating with love messages via text. As of January 2022, the music video has reached over 217 million views.
