Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Khalid, it is so great seeing you.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
We're gonna be chatting all about your smash Nobody with
Oscar med Kay coming up. We're gonna get to know
you a little better with Thinkey's First and ask you
a question that you have possibly never been asked before. Khalid,
Welcome to America's Dance thirty for the first time.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.
No dance.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Counting down the biggest dance songs in the country. This
is America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I think the last time I saw you may have
been back in like twenty eighteen, we had you come
through on the jingle Ball Tour. How have you been
in the almost decade.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
I've actually been really good, you know, just years ahead
in just a different place, but I feel really good.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I feel like where I am on this end of
the decade.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
I feel liberated, I feel free, and I'm having a
lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
So I feel really good.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
That's so awesome to hear.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
It's kind of like all those reels that are trending
now with nobody explains how hard it is to go
from this to this, and you see like the transition.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Yeah, yeah, I've done so much since then, I've accomplished
so much, and I've found myself in so many different
pockets and ever since then, you know, I'm just happy
to be where I am now.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
That's so awesome to hear.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, congratulations on the incredible success of Nobody with Oscar.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Medkay, yes, yes with Oscar. My man.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I can't wait to talk about how this collab came
together between you two, but first, let's get to know
Khalead a little better with Finky's first Okay, So, I
always love finding out the origin story of artists. I
know that music is pretty much in your blood and
(01:57):
you got into it at a really young age. In fact,
I saw that you were voted most likely to go
platinum in high school, which is a lot of pressure.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
So much.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Oh my god, it now, is music the first thing
that you wanted to get into when you were growing up?
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Or was there something else you wanted to be when
you grew up?
Speaker 4 (02:18):
There was a random moment where I wanted to be
like a Spanish teacher.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Really random.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I was way better at Spanish at that time, and
I feel like if I would have stayed the course
with that, maybe who knows, who knows what classroom i'd
be in. But yeah, that is the complete truth. I
really really loved learning Spanish in high school and I
was like, maybe one day I'll be living a teacher
like that.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So where did you veer?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Where did you stop concentrating on Spanish teacher and moved
to music.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Ah, it was when I moved to Olpaso, Texas, and
I joined AP Spanish and I sat in that class
and no one spoke one word of English the entire
first lesson.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I was like, I can't do this.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Actually, I was like I should find another another job
or another hobby, and then then led me right back
to music.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Now, this is going to be a random question, but
have you ever thought about including some Spanish in your songs?
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I love working with Spanish artists from time to time,
and I feel like that's just something that I would
love to do because I genuinely have love for the language.
And yeah, I would love to push myself out there,
not only to learn Spanish again, but to you know,
touch my Latin audience too.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Well, maybe we'll see it in the future.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Now, thinking back to when you started with music and
you were trying to decide on an artist project name
was using your real name, your first choice, or whether
or other names you were considering.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
No, it was not my first choice. I don't think
that I was as confident as a teenager. And so
the first song I ever uploaded on the internet had
no name. All. It had whatever SoundCloud my friend was
using at the time.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
But when I named myself for the first time, I
went by name called Kai.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
So what what made you change from Kai to Khalid.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Shining to actually?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
And I was going through so many different options and
I was like, okay, well I could.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
I could name myself Kai.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
But there was another artist at KAI that was named
Kai at that time that was going off, and so
I was like, maybe I should, you know, change it
to something else. And I tried to put all these
different like last names on my name. I'm like, none
of this is working. And I told myself, I was like,
you know what, I'm just gonna be Khalid. I just
I'm too lazy to come up with anything extracting him.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I'm going to be myself. You guys got me.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Well, I'm glad you did, because it's a great name.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Now, of course you've got one of the smoothest voices
in the game, but do you remember the first song
that you learned to sing that made you realize you
could do this for a career.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Yes, the first song that really impacted me in a
way that I was like, okay, this this could be
my calling. It was a song that I sang with
the barbershop quartet in high school called only You.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Wow looking for Wing up of It's like a story off.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Can you hear that song?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
And I like went from room to room with the
three boys that I was with and we sang them.
People had to like buy them as like candy grams
or where they spent like a couple of dollars to
hear us sing. And the teachers in the school and
the students, they loved it so much and they just
like encouraged me. They're like, you should really go and
you should do something with this, and it's like, you
know what, Maybe I will, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I'm glad they did. Now.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I saw the reel that you posted chasing down a
car because the person was listening to one of your
songs with the windows down. Do you remember the first
time hearing one of your songs on the radio.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
I was in Texas and we were just in the car.
We randomly turned on the radio station and my song
is just playing, Like what the world? Such an incredible
memory and so distant now, but I can still remember
it like it was yesterday.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Oh, that must have been an incredible feeling, especially since
it was random.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
It was incredible. What a beautiful moment.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Finally, in honor of the success of Nobody with Oscar Medkay.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
You know you have been on some iconic dance songs.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You've been with Marsh Mellow, with Martin Garrix, with Disclosure,
now Oscar Medkay, But do you remember the first moment
that made you get into dance music? Was it hearing
a song on the radio? Was it meeting a producer?
Speaker 4 (06:49):
You know what? I give credit to my love for Disclosure,
really really really loved it and ended up doing two
songs with them as well, and that was amazing. I
think my love for Disclosure introduced me to a new
affinity for dance music. But I will say I was
always afraid to dip my toes into dance because I
(07:11):
just felt like, I don't know this. Dance records are
incredibly large, you know, of the likes of Calvin Harris,
which I also have a song with as Well was
just incredible, But I think it was when I did
that song with Marshmallow Silence, not that song, come on
speaking about about it like it's just this other thing.
No Silence, these song Silence. The collaboration of silence really
(07:36):
really really and to this day continues my love for
dance music.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
And is it weird hearing your voice in dance music
coming from another side of music.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
No, I want to hear my song on every dance
song and existed every my name.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
I mean, I want to hear my voice on every
song in dance history.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Ever, I don't want it to be the last dance song.
I you.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
I actually really loved dance music, and I would love
to just go on a spree of just like meeting
up with incredible dance artists that I love and just
doing so much.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I feel like it's kind of like, you know, when
you do things in your career, you do it for
other people.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I feel like that would be a position in my
career where I'm doing that solely for myself and my
own enjoyment.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Like I would love to go on just like a
dance spree.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Well, all co sign that I would love to hear
you on every dance song. Let's talk about a dance
song that you are on Nobody with Oscar med Kay.
You know, I can't wait to find out how this
collab came together because it originally came out as just
Oscar Medk's song.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
How was Nobody born? Between you two?
Speaker 4 (08:41):
I already loved the song so much, and I ended
up finding out that they had a list of collaborators
that they wanted for a remix, and that I was
at the top of their list. And I just looked
at it like the stars above are coming together and
forming this special moment, and I have to take advantage
of this opportunity because I love the song. Oscar is
(09:03):
extremely talented and killed it on his own already, and
for him to give me an opportunity to be able
to add my own style to this, like I said,
it really does like it touches my little Dan's heart
and it just like makes me feel just so pleasureful
that people look at me as a voice in the industry.
And yeah, and the song is one of my favorites
(09:24):
and I love it so much and it's so infectious
and incredible, and yeah, I give it up to Oscar.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
And it really is like the second you start singing,
when the verse starts, it really just takes over the song.
So it's so incredible. How long ago did you guys
start working on it?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Oh my god, I want to say maybe the summertime.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Oh okay, so kind of recent.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Very recent, very recent. It was one of those moments
where it was like, I need to do this now.
I don't need to waste any time. I don't need
to push it off, because if I genuinely like something
and I genuinely love it, then I should participate. Why not,
especially if they for me. I don't take my collaborations
for granted. I think that if anyone is reaching out
(10:06):
to me and they think of me as a voice,
I need to take care of that and get it
done as soon as I possibly can.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I love hearing that now.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Something I love finding out is how many different versions
there are of songs with all the tweaking that goes
on with klead music.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Is there a lot of tweaking that goes on?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Or you a singer songwriter that just likes to put
it out there and go you know what?
Speaker 4 (10:28):
I'll say My process earlier in my career was very
much paint to the wall, first, first come, first serve
thing kind of just like that's just how I'm going
to do it. But later in life I've learned to
be a little bit more intentional, and so I'll do
like a writing pass where I can catch a vibe
of the song, and then I'll go in and I'll
treat it with the most delicate care like a Michelin restaurant.
(10:50):
I'll like slab each individual like harmony and vocal.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I'm like, okay, this is perfect, Like this is great.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Just more intention now later in my life, because when
I've been in the career for ten years, it's kind
of just like that. That's what keeps it fun, the meticulousness,
like you know, just that energy, that effort, that's what
keeps it fun for me. So now I take a
little bit more time, so i'd say maybe like two
versions to two to three instead of just one.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And how much was there for nobody? How many passes
were there?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Two?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Okay, that's not bad.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Well, congratulations on the amazing success of it. Congratulations on
everything going on for you right now now. Before I
let you go, I asked chat GPT to give me
a question that Khalid has never been asked before, so
I got to test this out. All right, Let's see
if you could invite your past self and your future
(11:47):
self into this chat.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Who would you like to chat with more?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And why the version of myself from the past and
why I feel like I'm not ready to.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Meet the version of myself and the future just yet.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, I don't want to know the future.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
You're talking too much like I want to hear it.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Let's let the story play out and with me in
the past, I'd be like, you had a good time.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Huh, you're having a great time.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
It's incredible, And I would tell them, you know how,
hold on to that and cherish that while you have it,
because you know the time is fleeting, but the memories
last forever, so just hold on to it.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
That is so incredible, Khalid, It is so great seeing
you and chatting with you. Thank you so much for
your time with us on America's Dance thirty.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
America's Dance thirty counting down the biggest dance songs in
the country.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
America's Dance thirty