American singer Khalid on his ‘insane’ rise in music world and empowering youth

On the final night of Hong Kong’s Clockenflap festival, a 20-year-old Texan singer will take to the stage and deliver one of the most highly anticipated performances of the weekend. Khalid Robinson, known simply as Khalid, will perform this Sunday to thousands of music fans on the Central Harbourfront.

Despite touring intensively over the past 18 months, Robinson says his excitement for hitting the road is far from wearing off. “From the outside looking in, you’d probably say I was tired of singing the same songs every night. [But] I fall in love with the songs more every single day,” he says, ahead of his debut performance in the city.

Born in Georgia, in the United States, he moved as a teenager to Texas, where Robinson sang regularly in high school productions. He had planned to be an opera singer or perform in musicals until his demo songs posted to the website SoundCloud began gathering interest.

His first and most successful single, Location, began charting in the summer of 2016, marking the start of a rise to fame that would see him named as Spotify’s third most-streamed artist, after Drake and Selena Gomez.

“It’s a blessing and I can’t believe that that many people all over the world are listening to me,” says the singer, who cites his key influences as Frank Ocean, James Blake, Grizzly Bear and Kendrick Lamar. “It’s insane and I surprise myself every day.”

Over the last 18 months, he has released his debut album “American Teen”, been nominated for five Grammy Awards, featured on the Black Panther film soundtrack, supported New Zealand performer Lorde during her Melodrama World Tour, won an MTV Video Music award for Best New Artist, and was named one of Time Magazine’s 30 Most Influential Teens of 2017.