Khaled

BIO:

When was the last time you were listening to a song and you heard a verse that was so dope that you immediately rewound the track to hear it again? To quote a Rakim lyric, “it’s been a long time.” Khaled, an emcee out of Lexington, Kentucky, is looking to do something about this. “I’m really trying to get people excited about lyrics again,” he explains, “I’m trying to take it back to the days when rhyming actually mattered.” Khalid’s goal may sound like an uphill battle to some, but he’s not worried, fighting uphill battles is in his blood. In Khalid’s case he gets it from his father, Fathi, who was a revolutionary in Libya.

Imprisoned for his role with the National Front for the Salvation of Libyans (NSFL), a group that was looking to overthrow the Libyan dictator and install a democratic government in the country, Fathi was facing a shortened life in jail that would end with his execution. Amazingly, he managed to escape incarceration after five years and after three subsequent years on the run Fathi and his family landed in Lexington, Kentucky, the former American homebase for the NSFL. Finally able to grow some roots of his own, Khaled began school and by the time he had reached the sixth grade he was already involved in Hip-Hop.

Unfortunately, Fethi would never get to hear his son rhyme as he passed away when Khaled was only nine years old. Subconsciously Khaled feels that he started writing as a way to reconnect with his father. As the years passed he became more proficient and during high school he would become the king of the lunchroom with his witty battle lines that defeated all comers. After high school came college, and ghostwriting.

Khaled’s ghostwriting resume is obviously secretive. He says most of his ghostwriting work was for album tracks rather than singles, but he did pen one Top 40 hit. His route to ghostwriting was aided by artists who needed their one conscious song. “People are making conscious music, but they don’t really back it up with their lifestyle,” he explains, “so sometimes people would hire me to write something a little bit political.” Even with all those conscious songs Khaled says he doesn’t want to be boxed in as a conscious MC. “I’m not just for backpackers,” he explains, “I feel like my music can reach the average people in the hood.”

Another reason Khaled feels he shouldn’t be labeled as a conscious MC is that he’s not being preachy about his beliefs, including his Muslim religion which is on display on a number of his songs. “I’m not saying be a Muslim,” he explains “I’m also not really saying don’t do drugs. I think just by not rapping about selling drugs and shooting people, stuff like that, people learn that there’s other stuff to like.” Khaled also notes “people think Hip-Hop is this big bad wolf when Hip-Hop’s just a medium, just like TV is and just like books are. You can have good stuff from it and you can have bad stuff from it.” After one listen to Khaled’s music it’s obvious he’s working towards giving listeners a heavy dose of the former rather than the latter.

While studying journalism at the University of Kentucky Khaled came to the realization that he could combine what he wanted to do in journalism with what he wanted to do with his music. His goal was simple, to teach and to inform, and with Hip-Hop having such a huge influence on youth culture Khaled figured if he wanted to get a message across he was going to have to stop ghostwriting and pick up a mic again himself.

With the rare combination of a quick wit, substance, and lyrical ability, Khaled’s time is now.

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an updated tour date list will be up shortly.

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