Ever since he was outed last year, Khalid has embraced a new musical direction that has allowed him to live as his full self. As seen in the video for “In Plain Sight” and his newly released single, “Out Of Body,” Khalid is going for a more club-friendly vibe lately; where prior projects leaned on moody R&B and hip-hop, his newer songs are going with Y2K-inspired pop-R&B production, complete with hooky synths inspired by The Neptunes and Darkchild, Rodney Jenkins.
That extends to the videos themselves too. In “Out Of Body,” Khalid goes borderline Britney Spears, popping his hips like the Pussycat Dolls along with his team of backup dancers. Everything from the wardrobes to the film filter just screams “Xtina, etc.,” and you know what? We love this for him. “Out Of Body” brings back a style of music that fell out of favor as trap music took over the world, but everything comes back around, and Khalid might just be the perfect person to shepherd the resurgence of the TRL pop vibes.
“Out Of Body” and “In Plain Sight” will both appear on his new album, After The Sun Goes Down which he announced in August and drops next month.
You can watch Khalid’s “Out Of Body” video above.
After The Sun Goes Down is out 10/10 via Right Hand Music Group/RCA Records. You can find more info here.