Def Jam’s newest addition”Khalil”

Born in Sacramento, California fifteen year old Khalil never dreamed of becoming a singing sensation. As a matter of fact, Khalil was the captain of his seventh grade basketball team so b-ball was his thing. To him music was just a hobby but with a simple youtube upload Khalil was discovered. I just want to make great music, says Khalil. The state of music now is not as good as it was back when the Stevie Wonders and the Donny Hathaways were out. I want to bring back great records and the fact that people can still make them. I feel like artists used to tell a story when they made music. Right now, I just want to tell a story.

With musical influences like Donny Hathaway, Sam Cooke, Michael Jackson, and Usher, “Khalil is well on his way to a wonderful career. Now signed to Def Jam, Khalil’s debut single, “Girlfriend” written and produced by Sean Garrett, releases May 24TH. Stay tuned for Khalil’s upcoming debut album, with featured performances from Young Money’s Lil Twist and more!

Shive: How did you get signed?

Khalil: My Aunt she use to always here me around the house singing and whenever the family would come over she would always say, “Khalil, you need to sing for them. I never wanted to sing for the family I always wanted to play basketball. So one day she told me to upload a video on youtube so when I uploaded it a guy named Kevin Wells whose worked with abc,112 and these other groups he hit me up on my youtube account like,” yo, I want to fly you down to Atlanta” and then the rest of that is history.

Shive: Have you always been interested in music?

Khalil: It’s always been an interest and it’s also been something that has impacted me in life but it wasn’t always a career, I never looked at it as a career.

Shive: How is school still apart of your career?

Khalil : School is still apart of my everyday life I go to a private school in Atlanta so it kind cater towards my schedule when I’m out of town and stuff like that but it is definitely still a big part of my life.

Shive: So was it hard transitioning from a regular school kid to a career school kid?

Khalil: Definitely, It was definitely hard because when you’re a regular school kid you don’t have as many responsibilities as I have really it just like chores and homework now your trying to balance chores homework and trying to get all the music done to so it’s a lot to handle.

Shive: When did you become interested in music?

Khalil: After I got signed I really feel in love with music. I was always a music fan with listening to Usher and all the old school artists. It was really after I got signed is when I feel in love with the singing, studio and all of that.

Shive: I understand you’re working with Diggy Simmons. How is he as an artist?

Khalil: As an artist Diggy is a great rapper. He’s one of the few that uses lyrical content that at his age you wouldn’t expect. He’s a great artist.

Shive: How was that for you?

Khalil: It was fun, before we starting working together my home girl hooked us up. We were talking for a minute basically. He was like, “yeah we’re just building a relationship on a personal level”. And after that he was like, “I want you on my mixtape, “the first flight”. He sent me the track and I did the track and we had a lot of fun. We built a brother relationship so now he’s like my lil bro. Working with him was a lot of fun.

Shive: I know you’re working on an album right now, so how’s that coming along?

Khalil: The album is coming along great we have a lot of songs. I’ve been recording for about almost a year now. I’m glad we’re finally coming to a close. As far as the album as a whole I fell it’s coming along real well.

Shive: Is there a name for it yet?

Khalil: The album is currently untitled; I have no name for it.

Shive: What about any feature artist?

Khalil: We have Lil Twist and we have other features but I don’t want to release the names yet.

Shive: How is it working with all these great artists?

Khalil: It’s a great experience because I can still remember when I was kicking back just watching all these people on T.V. and now I’ve built a relationship with them on a personal level. It’s Kind of weird in a way but in another way it’s still fun and cool to be around them.

Shive: Are there any particular artist you would like to work with in the future?

Khalil: Definitely Lil Wayne, “he’s one of my favorite artist” and Eminem too, definitely Eminem.

Shive: So are you interested in girls right now?

Khalil: Girls, I’m definitely interested in girls. As a teenager, I’m just starting to get into girls like that so whenever Digg and I are out at the mall, girls are a big part of our weekend.

Shive: Besides your album, are there any upcoming projects you’re working on?

Khalil: Definitely the second album, I will be on Tour this summer it’s going to be a mall tour so that should be real big.

For more from Khalil, check out:

www.youtube.com/Khaliltz916

www.twitter.com/crazykhalil