As soon as Khalid burst on to the stage at Hammersmith Apollo it became easy to see where his ‘sudden’ success was birthed – it lies somewhere in between his contagious passion and the devoted fan base who practically performed alongside him.
The singer, who only just turned 20 this week, got his big break when Kylie Jenner used a section of his trademark song Location on a Snapchat video two years ago when the Texan singer was still in the weird stage between teenagehood and adulthood.
And therein lies the theme of his art, the raw depiction of misplacement is evident in his sound as he sings about the struggles of relationships in a tech-savvy world on top of 80’s synths besides two American cheerleaders with shiny pom poms.