The moment has finally come. Two years after living as an American Teen, Khalid is now a Free Spirit and coos about it on his newly released sophomore album.
The 17-track project conveys the inner feelings of Khalid, who had to adjust to superstardom overnight. His promotional run included dropping tracks and accompanying visuals like “Don’t Pretend,” “Self,” “My Bad,” “Talk” and “Better.”
For Free Spirit, Khalid called on the likes of hitmakers Hit-Boy, John Mayer, Disclosure, Safe, and Stargate to fuse his melodic vibes with hybrids of sounds and themes.
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He worked with the latter Grammy-winning duo on “Right Back,” a song on the LP he described to Beats 1 Host Zane Lowe as a throwback moment.
“It gives me this level of nostalgia from one of my favorite areas of music, the ’90s,” he shared with Lowe earlier this week. “The way that it sounds, the way that I see my friends dance to it, and the fact that my mom really, really loves it—that was the tipping point. If my mom doesn’t like a song, it’s not making the album.”
To support his new album, Khalid will play Coachella on April 14 and 21. He will also perform at the Beale Street Music Festival and Hangout Music Festival in May.
On June 20, Khalid will launch his first-ever headlining North American arena tour, with special guests Clairo. His first stop is in Phoenix.
Listen to Free Spirit below.