Khalid's new album generates quick popularity
R&B/Soul artist, Khalid Donnel Robinson, “Khalid,” released his second studio album, Free Spirit, on April fifth through RCA Records. Khalid’s debut album, American Teen, was released in 2017 and was then followed by an extended play, Suncity, which came out in October of 2018.
Khalid became well known after his single “American Teen” reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Since then, his fame has taken off, especially in the last year. Last July, Khalid collaborated with Benny Blanco and Halsey to produce “Eastside.” The single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and had 8.8 million U.S. streams during its first release week. In the last year he has also dropped collaborations with Kane Brown, Billie Eilish, and Normani.
Free Spirit features 17 tracks, including “Better” and “Saturday Nights,” which both appeared on Suncity. On the album, Khalid sings about finding your own personal freedom and the feelings that result from a broken relationship. The message of the album as a whole can be felt through the first song on the album, “Intro,” along with “Self” and “Bad Luck.”
The album also features “Talk” which was released at the beginning of February, along with “My Bad” which dropped on March seventh, just a week after Khalid confirmed his sophomore album. “Talk” is currently number 22 on the iTunes chart and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, followed by “Better” at 19. Free Spirit features SAFE on “Don’t Pretend” and John Mayer on “Outta My Head.”
British music video director, Emil Nava, directed a short film to accompany Free Spirit. The film was released on April third in select theatres for only one day. Filmed in the desert outside of Los Angeles, the short film is about a group of American youth who are searching for a way out of their communities. The film, which also goes by the name Free Spirit, uses the idea of a road trip as a metaphor for the youth’s journey. This same theme is present in the album as well and can even be seen in the album cover illustration, which features Khalid standing on top of a van in the desert.
The album can be appreciated by a vast audience because it is genreless, it has a variety of songs including acoustic tracks and even dance ones too. Free Spirit can be purchased off of iTunes or listened to on Spotify, Google Play Music, Amazon Music and more.
