Khalid

Khalid was born Khalid Robinson on February 11, 1998 in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Raised in a military family, he spent his childhood in various locations. He lived in Germany and upstate New York before settling in El Paso, Texas during his senior year of high school. Khalid was first inspired to make music by his mother, who was a singer in the U.S. Army Band and loved '90s R&B artists such as Brandy and TLC.

He began making music in 2015, citing A-list stars such as Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Father John Misty and Chance the Rapper as his influences. Producer SkySense eventually took notice of him. He produced and worked on Khalid's bittersweet breakout single "Location". The song was released in 2016 and bowed in the top 10 of Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart in January 2017.