Quotes from Khalid

The thing about going back to El Paso, it's overwhelming sometimes. I look at the support that I get and the success that I've had, and I can't walk anywhere without being spotted. My hair might be the biggest crime in this situation.

I moved from New York to El Paso in 2015, just before my senior year. I was super nervous. My mom, she's in the Army, and she got stationed at Fort Bliss. We packed everything up and drove all the way to El Paso.

I feel like baggy pants are cool.

I love visiting my friends because it makes me feel normal.

My peers inspire me, especially being a newer artist.

I want people to know that it's OK to have feelings; it's OK to be vulnerable. That no matter where they live around the world, teenagers all go through the same things.

Being vulnerable was difficult for me at first because I've said things in my songs about how I felt that I never told anybody.

Uzi is insanely good and super creative.

There's been a time where I was like, I wanna be a folk singer; no, I wanna sing soul. I want to sing classical music. I want to sing R&B. I want to be on Broadway. I just wanna sing. Whatever comes out of my mouth, that's what I want to do.

I was told I wasn't good enough, but I just chose not to listen.

I'm a regular guy, and I don't want anyone to look at me as being superior or having a God complex or anything like that, you know? I don't want to walk around like I know everything, because I have so much more room to improve.

I can't play an instrument to save my life. But when I'm creating, and when I'm making music, I feel like I'm the head of the orchestra, and I'm just waving my wand, and something is created.

I was in the sixth grade and living in Germany, when I was hanging out late with some friends. I turned around, and there's a dude dressed up as Michael Myers following us all the way home. It was the scariest thing ever, and it always reminds me of Halloween. In my mind, I was so young, so I really thought it was Mike Myers following me home.

I use my clothing choices as a way to express how I feel.

For me, when I grew up, I never really had an outlet when it came to my social surroundings. Even if I had a form of popularity, I felt like I was very limited.

It's crazy that people are looking to me as a symbol like, 'Oh, he's the voice of the youth. He's this and this and that.' I feel like there's a lot of pressure that comes with it, when people look to you as the face of something.

I've been singing since I could talk correctly.

My mind was so geared towards being a performing artist, singing all these classical pieces, but the sense of loneliness I got when I moved from New York to El Paso meant that writing turned into singing. I'd sing all these songs, and they'd make me feel better. Songs that crafted the way my life was going to go.

Love crosses all boundaries.

A lot of people feel pressured by the outside influences, whether it's your job, whether it's school. But who says you can't take care of that stuff and still be young?

Lorde is awesome. She's amazing. She's so talented. We went on tour in Europe, and it was the greatest time of my life.

Once you're comfortable with the way that you're dressing, you express yourself a lot more, and you're just able to have a lot more fun.

Even though I was super personal with 'American Teen,' I want to tap in and not just tell my own stories but tell the stories of other people - so that I can help as many people as possible.

The first songs I made brought me to the Grammys. I was a five-times nominated teenager off voice memos and songs that were clearly recorded off different mics.