Khalid: Beware of Khalid
“Beware of Khalid”, “Aha”, “You think I’m Khalid,” “These songs can’t be Khalid’s.” A few songs from the new R&B LP “Khalid” reminded me why I love Khalid so much. From that and a few other songs on Khalid, I can’t think of another song by any other artist that makes me feel so emotional and connected with their music, it’s beyond that.
Khalid is a very unique artist in the R&B genre. She combines this beautiful and captivating voice with a lot of modern technology and tools, something rarely seen in R&B music. To explain how she does this, I’d first like to quote a writer friend of mine who said, “she uses everything at her disposal as a catalyst to propel her music to greater heights”.
The voice of Khalid is incredible, but more importantly, the technology is amazing – she has a lovely sound to her voice and uses it to drive her lyrics to new heights. While her voice and lyrics may seem simple, they are very complex and have multiple layers that make her sound that way.
When listening to Khalid, I hear a sound that reminds me of a child saying ‘oof’ or something that reminds me of a baby crying. It’s soft, sad, and beautiful.
The music on Khalid is very modern tools, such as drum machines, digital synths, and samples, which are used to create ‘inter-textual’ pieces of music. These pieces of music create intricate vocals and add to the beautiful melodies.
The instrumentation on Khalid is also very unique, with synths, pianos, drums, and other modern instruments. In fact, almost every track on the album has at least one new and exciting instrument. Some tracks even include a live band.
On “Maiden” for example, there is a funky breakbeat, while “True,” on the other hand, features a cello and electronic drumming. All of these things combine to create an awesome sound that makes the album come alive. This album is such a great listen, and I’m glad I bought it.
