Interview: Khaid on his Music, Childhood, Sydney Talker & Diversity EP

17 year old Khaid burst onto the scene earlier this year. His first single ‘With You’ received strong support, with airplay in Nigeria, USA, and the UK, amassing over 1.2 million streams in the first couple of weeks after its release. This was closely followed by his Afro-Trap-inspired single ‘Ski’. With two strong singles under his belt, his latest offering is his unique debut EP ‘Diversity’ which displays his lyrical prowess and his distinctive, contemporary Afro sound. In this conversation with the young star, we talked about all things music, his tough childhood, being discovered by Sydney Talker and his Diversity EP. 

I want to take you back a little bit. Tell me what it was like for you growing up and where you grew up?

Growing up wasn’t easy. I grew up in the streets actually. Growing up with 7 other siblings and two parents is hard but, it doesn’t mean it’s always hard. School fees were a big issue at the time but I thank God for helping us to pass through that phase. The streets are a place where you live and learn. You can wake up in the morning and start receiving bad news instantly. I would just say it’s God’s grace. 

So, in all of the struggle, where did music come into the picture? 

Music came into the picture at a very young age for me. It was something I was always influenced by because my mum and dad listen to different genres of music. My dad is a Fashion Designer and every time he was working, he was always playing music. Music came into the picture at the age of 13 when I started doing my own freestyles. It wasn’t that easy because I was a rapper. 

Who were you listening to growing up?

I actually listened to many people! I listened to trap artists- Polo G, NBA Youngboy, Juice WRLD, XXXtentacion. When it comes to artists I listen to culturally, I listen to (Ayinde) Barrister. I used to listen to Fela because my dad played him a lot. I listen to Wizkid, Davido, Burna, Ruger, Rema, Blaqbonez- I listened to a lot of people. 

The type of music you make is very unique. Who inspires you? 

I was inspired by a particular set of people – my friends. They always told me how good I was and told me to take my freestyles to the next level. That was my backbone at that time. My mum is a big fan of Michael Jackson and I always wanted to be like him. So, that influence made me want to find my sound. Also, doing competitions in school helped me a lot as well because I was a little bit shy. 

Touching on what you just said about being shy, how did you overcome that? 

I’m still getting past that. I have these classes I’m doing to overcome my shyness. In these classes, I am given a subject that I will have to summarise, explain and present to the Neville Records team. It’s really helped me so far.

I’m sure with time you’ll overcome that. So, you are the first artist signed to Neville Records – congratulations! How did you meet Sydney Talker and how did that lead to you getting signed to his label?

Basically, he texted me on Instagram. At that time, I was a Mechanic and I was just posting my freestyles on Instagram. One day, I got a text from Sydney Talker. I didn’t believe it was him, I thought it was a fake account. I actually didn’t check the message – that was prideful of me. It kept bugging me so I decided to check the message and the first thing I saw was the verified tick and like 1 million followers. I was so surprised! I was actually going to thank him for following me and I saw where he DM’d me saying he liked my sound. I ended up going to his house and we vibed to some instrumentals that day. He ended up telling me I was signed that same day and I was like “Wow! This is surprising!” Honestly, it’s just God’s grace. I give thanks to God!

Definitely! This might be a little bit controversial but I hope you can answer. Your label owner Sydney Talker isn’t known for music, he’s known for content creation. After saying yes to the deal, were you a bit hesitant about signing with someone who has a lot of achievements in content creation but isn’t known for doing anything in the music industry? Were you a bit nervous about that or did that not faze you?

I was definitely nervous! The first thing I thought was “I am getting signed to a comedian” but actually, I didn’t really care about that. I’ve been hustling a lot so, getting this type of opportunity was something I had to embrace. Living with him and seeing the plan that he had for me and the EP increased my belief. He’s a very intelligent person. If you saw his plans, you would definitely believe that everything will work out. The fact that he is the brains behind everything is mind-blowing! I’ve been looking for that type of mind to work with.

You’re both definitely on the same wavelength so it’s definitely a good match! Moving on to the music! Like I said at the beginning, ‘With You’ is such a beautiful song. Where were you when you wrote this song and what were you feeling?

I was still a Mechanic when I wrote the hook of With You. I had met him (Sydney) but we were not living together yet. Sydney sent me the beat and asked if I could do something about it. Basically, the With You song you’re hearing is not the way I wrote it at first. ‘With You’ was inspired by my Mechanic colleague who was in love at that time. He was always talking about how tired he was of the relationship and that he didn’t want to do it anymore. He was always talking to the girl with smiles but he was also telling me he was tired of her, I was like “You just want to be with her sha!” I was vibing and before I knew it, I just vibed some melodies on that line “I just want to be with you.” When my boss (Sydney) called me over to his house, I freestyled it and he added his touch to it- he knows how to place the verse, hook, and other things. That was how ‘With You’ came about. 

So ‘With You’ is your debut single and when I heard it, it was already doing crazy numbers! Now, it has surpassed 2.2 million streams which is amazing for a debut single. How does that feel for you?

Wow! I feel it’s really good. I will continue saying that it’s God’s grace. I feel really blessed. I was actually doubting myself at first but seeing the plans gave me the confidence I needed. I just had to focus on the positive part. I thank God I’m here and I feel really excited. Now it’s time to show everyone what I’ve got. 

Just before we get onto talking about your new EP Diversity, you talked about doubting yourself. When your first single does so well, the worry for an artist to top themselves is there. They start putting themselves under pressure. Do you feel like you’re under pressure to keep topping yourself and replicating the success of ‘With You’?

No, I’m not under pressure because if With You could do the numbers that it did, what will the EP do? We have greater plans for the EP. The EP is definitely going to be bigger than With You and With You is on the EP. The EP is definitely going to do great because it already has With You. The EP is filled with different types of sounds!

You’re 17 years old! There will be a lot of people who are going to look at and read about your journey that will be so inspired by how far you’ve come. There are also going to be older people who are going to look at you and think “If he can do it, I can do it too!” How do stay motivated as an artist in the Nigerian music industry?

Basically, my motivations are the struggles I’ve been through, the stress of street life, and my family. I’ve been doing this for my family and I don’t want to go back to the way I was living before. I want everything that Sydney (Talker) has envisioned to come to life. That motivates me.