They quickly reached A&R executive Tunji Balogun, who signed the artist to major-label RCA. While at Americas, Khalid uploaded his first recordings. Army Chorus - but a supportive environment at El Paso's Americas High School sparked his creativity and boosted his confidence. Throughout, music had been a constant - Khalid started singing as early as he could speak, and his mother performed with the U.S. Originally from Fort Stewart, Georgia, he also lived on military reservations in Kentucky and New York, as well as in Heidelberg, Germany, before his mother was transferred to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Khalid Robinson was raised by his mother, whose military career necessitated an itinerant upbringing. Khalid returned to his solo work with the 2021 mixtape Scenic Drive (The Tape) and 2023's Everything Is Changing. The Billboard 200-topping Free Spirit (2019) wasn't released until two years after American Teen, but Khalid was busy throughout the interim with an assortment of featured appearances and collaborations, highlighted by the Top Ten pop hits 'Love Lies' (with Normani) and 'Eastside' (headlined by Benny Blanco). Within a period of just over a year, Khalid went from an unknown, everyday teenager to a chart-topping, platinum-certified pop star with Grammy nominations for 'Location' and American Teen, plus Logic's '1-80,' on which he appeared. Although he attained a major-label contract within months of uploading his first songs, 'Location' moved into the mainstream at a slow tempo similar to that of the song itself and became a Top 20 pop hit just after the release of American Teen (2017), one of the biggest album debuts of the late 2010s. Just out of high school when he made his commercial debut with the ballad 'Location' (2016), non-traditional R&B singer and songwriter Khalid has attracted a large following with an undemonstrative but heartfelt vocal style and a down-to-earth perspective.

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