Khalid, Present | Track Review

Grammy-nominated R&B singer Khalid releases a pleasant, respectable single with “Present,” but fails to ascend to the next level.

“I

s it okay if I take a night to be present, yeah? / I can give you everything tonight.”  Upon his arrival in 2017,   Khalid (Khalid Robinson) showed tremendous promise as an artist.  His voice proved to be distinct and beautiful.  His debut album,   American Teen, had no shortage of hits.  His follow-up album,   Free Spirit (2019), had its moments, but didn’t find the talented singer expanding his craft.  Mr. Robinson returns with a new single, “Present” which plays to his strengths but doesn’t reinvent the wheel. 

Khalid keeps things brief on “Present,” which runs just north of two-and-a-half minutes.  As always, the   Grammy-nominated artist serves up refined, cool vocals. The theme of the record is L-O-V-E: “I just wanna be with you, baby / Say the word, I’m comin’ through, baby.”  The best moment – the centerpiece – unsurprisingly, is the chorus, excerpted above and shown in full below:

“Is it okay if I take a night to be present, yeah?
I can give you everything tonight
I can give you everything
Is it okay if I take a night to be present, yeah?
I can give you everything tonight.”

“Present” can be described as chill, smooth, contemporary R&B.  Robinson successfully conveys a vibe, one that’s characterized his music from the start.  Despite the brevity, and a straightforward theme, the credits list for the song includes six additional writers besides Robinson (four are producers   James Maddocks,   LNKmusic,   Hoskins, and   Charlie Handsome). With so many ‘cooks in the kitchen’ does “Present” end up sounding elite? Um…

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Final Thoughts

All said and done, Khalid has a respectable, contemporary R&B single on hand with “Present.” While it’s respectable, it’s not game changing.  He sounds lovely and the chorus is relatively memorable, but personally, I’m looking for that ‘next level’ from this talented artist.  “Present” is good but I’m seeking more!

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Khalid • “Present” • RCA • 10.22.21
[: Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay, RCA]

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