At 21 years-old, Khalid Donnel Robinson has been nominated for several Grammy awards, has appeared on hit songs with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Swae Lee, and has released two very successful albums. That is an extremely successful career, especially for someone as young as Khalid.

On his new album titled “Free Spirit,” Khalid reflects on his newfound stardom and grapples with being popular and feeling alone at the same time. While these aren’t groundbreaking themes by any means, Khalid brings new sounds, styles, and perspectives to the discussion.

Khalid primarily draws people in with his smooth and melodic voice. It is somewhat reminiscent of a more mellow and angsty Sam Cooke. In a crowded pop scene, Khalid’s wide-ranging talent allows him to stand out among the rest as his angelic and mellow voice becomes the soundtrack for an entire generation.

On this album, Khalid’s voice is as angelic and mellow as ever, and even with 17 tracks, his voice never gets old. In fact, he displayed a level of vocal growth and maturity on this album that proves that he is here to stay in the music industry. Khalid switches between a melodious voice on tracks like “Alive,” to an upbeat voice on “Right Back” that is reminiscent of tracks from “American Teen,” to an uplifting and angelic sound on tracks like “Free Spirit.” All of these different tones and styles are done beautifully, and this vocal variety keeps listeners engaged for the entirety of this 17 track album.

Another area where Khalid displayed growth was in his themes. While hints of the juvenile lovestruck writing that was common in “American Teen” can still be found in this album, there is a bit more depth and variety in what Khalid sings about. On “Self,” he struggles with self-reflection as he looks inward at his flaws, his fears and his anxiety.

In “Self” Khalid sings, “I’ve ran away for miles. It’s gettin’ hard for me to breathe. ‘Cause the man that I’ve been runnin’ from is inside of me.”

This introspective dialogue is not something that the world has seen from Khalid until now, and it is refreshing to hear Khalid admit his struggles to the world instead of repetitive allusions to his past relationships that are just vague enough to be all-encompassing.

If I had a complaint about this album, it would be that roughly one-third of the album consists of songs we had already heard. “Better” and “Saturday Nights” are the two biggest songs from his EP “Suncity” that was released last year, and “My Bad,” “Talk,” “Don’t Pretend” and “Self” were all released as singles. This is a very minor complaint, as I enjoy each of those songs, but it would’ve been nice to have 17 entirely new Khalid songs instead of 11 new songs with 6 songs I’ve already heard.

The tracks from this album that will chart the highest are likely the ones that recall the airy feel and summer vibes that were prevalent in “American Teen.” Tracks like “Right Back” and “Outta My Head” are good examples of this. For me, however, the album shines when Khalid strays from this formula and displays his variety – both vocally and thematically.

Khalid has quickly become one of the biggest artists of this generation. “Free Spirit” may not be as influential as “American Teen” was, but this is a very enjoyable album that proves Khalid is here to stay.

In his relatively short music career, Khalid has quickly made himself a household name. His 2017 album titled “American Teen” received Grammy Award nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best R&B Song and was certified platinum seven months after it’s release. Khalid also was nominated for new Best New Artist at the 2018 Grammys and won a VMA award for Best Artist in 2017.

Khalid’s name has been all over the charts since “American Teen” was released. He has appeared on hit songs with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Normani, Lorde and Ty Dolla $ign, just to name a few. He has also appeared on the movie soundtracks for “Black Panther,” “Superfly” and “Love, Simon.”

Khalid prides himself on versatility, and that is on full display in this project. The opening strings on the second track titled “Vertigo” are reminiscent of a Coldplay song, the guitar chords behind Khalid’s mellow voice on “Saturday Nights” sound like they are from a country song, and he even practices his Spanish over a reggaeton beat on the titular track “Suncity.” It is surprising how well his voice works with all these different styles and his experimentation on these three tracks make them my favorite from the EP.

Speaking of his voice, it is so mellow and soothing that it makes you close your eyes and just sway to the music. He has this monotone delivery throughout most of the project and it can start to sound repetitive at times, but he switches it up often enough to keep it interesting.

“Suncity” is more pop than “American Teen,” which was a bit more R&B, but his sound and style differentiate from typical pop songs enough that fans of any genre can listen to and enjoy this project, which is another plus.

My biggest problem with this EP is that, while it consists of some different styles, it doesn’t quite differentiate from his previous works as much as I hoped it would. The tracks on “Suncity” differ in sound from “American Teen” and some of his other songs, but it is the lyrics that haven’t changed.

The juvenile lovestruck songwriting that is just vague enough to be all-encompassing on tracks like “Saturday Nights” and “Better” can be found on dozens of Khalid’s songs and it started to get old for me on this project. He experiments with different sounds on “Suncity,” and I personally love it, but he doesn’t branch out in his songwriting, which is a tad disappointing to me. It definitely doesn’t ruin the project, it just keeps it from being as impactful as it could’ve been.

Overall “Suncity” is short and sweet. This seven-track, 21 minute EP won’t stand out as much as “American Teen” did, and outside of “Better,” the only single, might not get much play on the radio either. But if you are a fan of Khalid, like I am, you will definitely enjoy “Suncity.”

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