American Teen – Khalid

By: Bobby Van Leer

Khalid Robinson, known professionally as Khalid, was barely 19 years old when he released his debut album, American Teen, in March. Filled with clever and catchy lyrics, beautiful R&B vocals, and a wide variety of instrumentals, Khalid explores the emotions and relationships that have made his teenage years. Despite the album title and theme, Khalid’s experience has not been that of typical American teenager, moving from state to state at the whim of his mother’s military career. In “8teen,” he sings of his experiences with having a strict household, and yearning for the normal teenage years his friends have had. “Because I'm eighteen, And I still live with my parents, Yeah they're not like yours, Well yours are more understanding, I've never fell in love, I saved those feelings for you, So let's do all the stupid shit that young kids do.” Although his voice and musical abilities may make Khalid come across as much older, he makes no claims to wisdom and age, choosing to sing about what being eighteen truly feels like to him, unfiltered. Using modern lyrics about his relationships, blended with his ageless voice, Khalid creates a hybrid album that is truly unique, a feat that is difficult to achieve in 2017 when so many styles and lyrical prose come across as recycled and dated. 

“Location,” the album’s biggest hit, has consistently hovered around the top 20 in Spotify’s United States Top 50 most streamed songs, and for good reason. The song displays the best of Khalid’s hybrid sound as he croons about wanting real personal relationships, and not falling “in love off of sub-tweets.” (Something Khalid says his ex-girlfriend would do quite frequently) Khalid wants to get past the games and get to communicating face to face, if only she would send her location and stop playing over texts and sub-tweets. His lyrics could only truly be spoken in 2017, but Khalid presents his songs as sophisticated love stories that makes you think twice as to whether he’s actually 19 or not. American Teen is an album designed to play well with older fans who can appreciate his pure R&B vocals, and younger fans who can appreciate the complex lyrical stories of modern romance and the cat and mouse games played through social media. He represents R&B’s freshest young artist and is poised to be the face of the genre in 2017, building upon the the strong rise R&B has had with mainstream breakouts such as Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Jhené Aiko, and others. 

Favorite Tracks

Location, Shot Down, Saved, 8teen, Angels