Khalid Displays On Being Outed & Reclaiming His Id
Khalid stated being outed on-line pushed him to create his most sincere album but and helped him reclaim the narrative he misplaced within the public glare.
Khalid channeled the ache of being outed on-line into the center of his upcoming album After the Solar Goes Down, revealing that the deeply private expertise reshaped his artistic course of and compelled him into the general public eye earlier than he was prepared.
The 27-year-old singer was publicly outed as homosexual by an ex on X, previously referred to as Twitter, in 2023. Although he had already come out privately to shut family and friends, the general public publicity left him feeling robbed of his autonomy.
“I used to be caught off guard. I feel what’s so nasty about all of it is that my very own story obtained stripped away from me,” Khalid instructed Folks in a brand new interview.
Regardless of the emotional toll, Khalid stated the expertise cracked open a brand new stage of honesty in his music. “This album wouldn’t have come to be if I wasn’t outed,” he stated, referring to After the Solar Goes Down, which is about to drop October 10.
Recognized for hits like “Younger Dumb & Broke,” Khalid admitted he as soon as held again in his songwriting, making an attempt to strike a steadiness between vulnerability and self-protection.
“I needed to offer sufficient of myself the place I felt like I wasn’t fully hiding, however I didn’t need to give an excessive amount of the place I felt uncovered,” he stated. “As an artist, generally you do discover the stress to create your self to be accepted by all sides.”
Now, Khalid says he’s embracing his fact with out hesitation. “I made a decision I’m simply going to decide on to like who I’m unconditionally as a result of it’s all I obtained on this earth.”
Trying forward, he described After the Solar Goes Down as a tribute to the pop icons who formed his identification and impressed his goals.
“Singing a melody of a Britney (Spears) track or watching a Rihanna video actually charged my freedom of expression as a toddler,” he stated. “I’ve all the time dreamt of being this pop star. I actually tapped into that little boy and gave him his shine that he all the time needed.”
Khalid’s new album After the Solar Goes Down can be launched October 10.