Apple Music today announced the latest featured artist in its Up Next emerging artist program in Nigeria as Afrofusion singer and songwriter, Khaid (real name Sulaimon Shekoni Solomon).
“I am so grateful and amazed with how far I have come and I am very excited to be an Apple Music Up Next artist and to see that my sound is being accepted globally. This encourages me more to make music for everyone, everywhere around the globe. As I said, I am diverse and I still maintain my ground. Diversity is the vision,” he explains to Apple Music.
Raised in the vibrant city of Lagos in Nigeria, Khaid grew up as one of eight siblings, with a passion for music and performing that began at a very early age. However it was his fluid freestyles which caught the eye of influencer and comedian Sydney Talker, who immediately signed him to his Lagos-based label, Neville Records. Now, at just 17 years old, Khaid is making pioneering Afrofusion sounds that blend an Afrobeats groove with a trap sensibility.
His debut album, DIVERSITY, released through Neville Records and available to stream on Apple Music in Spatial Audio, merges emo-trap and Afropop and was born out of an 18-month-long artist development scheme that saw Khaid grow as a songwriter and live performer. Over six tracks, spearheaded by his debut smash single “With You”, Khaid positions himself as an upcoming authority on blending established genres with street influences.
As the newest Up Next artist to be spotlighted in Nigeria, Khaid will be featured across Apple Music’s Nigeria Up Next playlist.
Khaid joins Ninety, Young Jonn, T.I Blaze, Browny Pondis, Ajebo Hustlers, Jaido P, Wavy The Creator and SGaWD as Apple Music’s growing stable of Up Next Artists from Nigeria.
