R&B music sensation Khalid impacts the El Paso community with his continual support and positive representation of the humble border city. Having lived in the Bordertown for a year before success quickly found him, he always remembers to attribute his rise to stardom to the city he calls home, El Paso. The love from locals he encountered allowed Khalid to nourish his creativity, something he has never forgotten. He repays his city by donating his time and money to local charities, supporting community educational programs, and serving as a mentor to local musicians of all styles and genres.
Image caption: Khalid Donnel Robinson MTV (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
The soulful singer with a unique voice writes fondly of the Sun City in his songs, although El Paso hasn’t always been his home. Khalid Donnel Robinson was born on February 11, 1998, in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Before Khalid was born, his parents separated. While in second grade, his father passed away, leaving Linda Wolfe to raise him as a single, working mother. Due to his parents’ military careers, his mother being a Sergeant First Class, who served in the Army as a supply technician, Khalid lived in Kentucky, New York, and six years in Heidelberg, Germany. Interestingly enough, Wolfe became a member of the Army chorus, perhaps foreshadowing what her son would eventually become.
Life as the child of a military parent was always difficult for the soft-spoken singer. He admitted that it was difficult “moving around quite a bit and never fully knowing his place,” wrote Dave Acosta, entertainment reporter for the El Paso Times. Khalid participated in school plays and belonged to the choir growing up. Still, it wasn’t until his arrival in the Bordertown that he felt the confidence to actively pursue a career in the music industry.
Khalid did not know what to expect when he moved to Texas from New York in 2015. His mother’s military obligations brought them to Fort Bliss right before Khalid’s senior year of high school. He felt right at home at Americas High School, where he gained the motivation to write and record his music with encouragement from the local community.
Khalid’s popular lyrics were written as an emotional outlet that he was finally able to share thanks to the people around him. His adopted hometown inspired his musical talents with the love he felt from El Pasoans, the city’s supportive culture and its unique local geography. “I was lonely,” Khalid told Jordan Breal of Texas Monthly, “but I turned that loneliness into a spur of creativity. I was so inspired by El Paso and the geography.” Khalid gained a supportive network of friends who encouraged him to pursue a music career, and he eventually posted his music on SoundCloud close to the end of 2016. A few months later, “literally my graduation year — Kylie Jenner played my song on her Snapchat. And then I was going to New York City to sign a record deal. The people here [El Paso] are so strong and kind.”
On March 3, 2017, Khalid, at the age of 19, debuted his entire album, American Teen, which soared to number No. 9 on the Billboard album chart, after the success of the hit single “Location.” “The love and the friendships I made were influential” Khalid shared with Acosta. “El Paso is where I started. I don’t feel like I’d be making the music I’m making now if I hadn’t gone there.” In American Teen, reported Viraj Suri of Meridian High School’s The Lasso, “Khalid has flawlessly captured the qualms and struggles of American teens. Good things do happen to good people.” Since then, it has been an incredible ride for Khalid. He has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, won six Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.
Khalid has been incredibly proud of El Paso and has positively represented the town, shining a bright light on the city since the start of his glowing career. Those who are not familiar with the Sun City can mistakenly view it as a dangerous place with its proximity to the infamous Ciudad Juarez. Some who have no idea where El Paso is located think it’s a sleepy, forgotten, dusty town. Khalid’s short time in the city has changed that outlook forever, as his humble character, creative musical talents and giving heart have now overshadowed any negative opinions about El Paso, said Acosta. This is evident in his songs and albums that are named after the city’s landmarks. In his song, “American Teen,” Khalid praises the “pretty girls from the city of the 915.” He refers to the nostalgia of Dyer Street, a well-known street on the northeast side of town, in the track “Keep Me.” The music video for his hit song “Location” filmed him as he drove all over the beautiful El Paso desert.
His first extended play record entitled Suncity and the cover art depicting the singer in front of a typical local El Paso home are proud homages to the Bordertown. His Suncity track “9.13” is a recounting of the day El Paso Mayor Dee Margo presented Khalid with a Key to the City, praising him for his fond representation of the city. Mayor Margo stated, “The people of El Paso, Texas, proudly present the key to the City to Khalid Donnel Robinson. Forever, from the city of the 915,” which constitutes the lyrics of the three-line, 57-second-long song. “I’ve learned to represent the city in such a positive manner,” said Khalid, upon receiving at the ceremony the key to the city on September 13, 2018. “There’s been so many people of all over the world, from Australia to Indonesia to Mexico to Brazil, everywhere. And the loudest line, and I’m not lying to you, the loudest line of the show is ‘from the city of the 915.’”
El Paso’s hometown hero has received many accolades, earning him worldwide attention and fans. Since his success, Khalid has worked with many other chart-topping musicians through many genres, such as guitar extraordinaire John Mayer, Kane Brown, Marshmallow, Logic, Disclosure and many more. During his rise to stardom, Khalid collaborated with other up-and-coming artists, such as Billie Eilish, who was only 16 years old when they first collaborated. The two released a duet entitled “Lovely,” and Khalid has never hesitated to praise the much-loved Eilish. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Khalid profusely praised Eilish and her brother, Finneas.
Although his rise to fame has been quick, opening the doors for him to work with world-famous musicians, he remains grounded and keeps his dear El Paso close to his heart by giving back to the community. The Great Khalid Foundation is a charity founded by the generous R&B singer. One of the programs outlined on its website, the Performing Arts Scholarship, awards merit-based scholarships to high school seniors pursuing higher education in a performing art, and has awarded $60,000 in scholarships to date. Khalid’s scholarship programs are beneficial to the community as the requirements to be considered push students to hold academic excellence, ensuring they build great character and nurture their creative talents, virtues sure to last a lifetime.
In perhaps one of the most generous acts of kindness, Khalid did not flinch from showing support for his adopted home of El Paso after the tragic massacre of August 3, 2019. The mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart took the lives of 23 and injured an additional 25. Khalid gave back to the Bordertown community with a benefit concert for the victims of the horrific, senseless shooting. “Khalid and Friends: A Night for Suncity” was organized by The Great Khalid Foundation as the singer returned to El Paso, bringing along with him a group of friends and well-known celebrities: Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, musicians SZA, Lil Yachty, El Paso politician and supporter Beto O’Rourke, and more, together raising over $500,000 for the El Paso Community Foundation’s Victims Relief Fund, reported the El Paso Times.
The talented musician has also given back to the borderland community by using his superstar platform to give rise to other local artists such as The Swell Kids. In September 2018, the Swell Kids received a call from Khalid’s management team, inviting hem to open up for the R&B singer at the Don Haskins Center. According to an interview with Maria Gonzalez, entertainment reporter from the El Paso Times, a band member said this of their mentor: “I think he saw our potential and reached out to make sure we can continue to grow.” The Swell Kids, quite excited, gladly took the chance to play their biggest venue to date.
Although Khalid is now recognized worldwide and is busier than ever playing numerous concerts, he consciously makes the effort to remember the city where his career began. The young singer is impressive, balancing the duties of singer, songwriter, philanthropist and mentor. The compassion he has for the El Paso community is what truly makes Khalid a hometown hero.
In 2019, Khalid was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. There is no better way to honor Khalid here than to share the words expressed by R&B Grammy Award-winning Alicia Keys for the TIME100:
Khalid is totally unique. He’s a beautiful writer with the ability to take human concepts and make you understand and feel them. He has a full, powerful voice that is somehow unassuming and smooth at the same time. He’s accessible—almost like you’ve met somebody like him before, although there’s nobody else like him. He has his own style, and I think we’re all hungry for individuality right now. I love that his first album didn’t have any features. It’s a beautiful, powerful statement: “Here I am. This is me.” I’m excited that he is so clear about who he is right now, and I hope he continues to trust that instinct. He has a beautiful journey ahead of him, and I hope he accomplishes things he can’t even imagine yet.
