Free Spirit (Khalid album)

Free Spirit is the second studio album by American singer Khalid, released on April 5, 2019, through RCA Records. It is a follow-up to his 2017 and 2018 releases American Teen (2017) and Suncity (2018).^[1] and includes the single "Talk".^[2][3] Khalid also announced a short film directed by Emil Nava to accompany the album, which was released on April 3.^[4] The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and received mixed reviews from music critics.

Free Spirit
Studio album by Khalid
Released	April 5, 2019 (2019-04-05)
Recorded	2018–2019
Genre	R&B pop
Length	57:13
Label	RCA
Producer	Digi Charlie Handsome Denis Kosiak John Hill Mike "Scribz" Riley StarGate Al Shux Kurtis McKenzie D'Mile Disclosure Murda Beatz Doc McKinney John Mayer Hit-Boy The Haxan Cloak Dave Cerminara
Khalid chronology
Suncity (2018) Free Spirit (2019) Scenic Drive (2021)
Singles from Free Spirit
"Talk" Released: February 7, 2019 "Right Back" Released: August 2, 2019

Background

Khalid announced the title on social media on February 28. He had previously shown the van pictured on the cover in various posts.^[5]

Short film

A short film accompanying the album was released on Khalid's YouTube channel on the same day of the album's release.^[6]

Singles

"Talk" was released on February 7, 2019, as the album's lead single.^[2] "Right Back" featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie was released on August 2 as the album's second single.

Promotional singles

On March 7, "My Bad" was released with the album pre-order as a promotional single. "Self" was released on March 29, 2019.^[7] On April 3, "Don't Pretend", featuring Safe, was released with the launch of Free Spirit Radio on Beats 1.^[8]

Other songs

The album also includes the singles "Better" and "Saturday Nights" from Khalid's 2018 EP Suncity.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	5.2/10[9]
Metacritic	58/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[12]
The Guardian	[13]
The Independent	[14]
NME	[15]
The Observer	[16]
Pitchfork	4.7/10[17]
Rolling Stone	[18]
The Times	[19]
Vice (Expert Witness)	A−[20]

Free Spirit was met with mixed reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 58, based on 15 reviews.^[10]

Reviewing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis found the album less original than Khalid's previous work, with the singer having little new to add to the theme of anxiety explored in other "fretfully self-examining R&B", instead showing "a tendency to fall back on cliche". With regards to its musical aspect, the critic complained of a lengthy, "somnambulant pace", but observed some "great pop songs", like "Alive" and "My Bad".^[13]

More positive was Robert Christgau, who wrote in his column for Vice that while Khalid's new "privileges and woes" may be foreign to most listeners, he "retains the gift of expressing his feelings in songs that cut star-time inevitabilities down to human scale", observing truisms in lyrics such as "Couldn't have known it would ever be this hard", "I didn't text you because I was workin'", and "If the love feels good it'll work out". Christgau also pointed out that "because Khalid now enjoys access to pricier musical materials than when he was in high school, the hooks pack more texture than tune, making this the rare album that comes fully into its own when you up the volume."^[20]

Commercial performance

Free Spirit debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with 202,000 album-equivalent units (including 85,000 pure album sales) in its first week. It is Khalid's first US number-one album.^[21]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Khalid Robinson Jamil Chammas	Digi	3:32
2.	"Bad Luck"	Robinson Alexander Shuckburgh Kurtis McKenzie Michael "Scribz" Riley	Al Shux McKenzie Scribz Riley	3:51
3.	"My Bad"	Robinson Dernst Emile II	D'Mile	2:43
4.	"Better"	Robinson Mikkel S. Eriksen Tor Erik Hermansen Ryan Vojtesak Chammas Denis Kosiak	Stargate Charlie Handsome Digi Kosiak	3:49
5.	"Talk"	Robinson Howard Lawrence Guy Lawrence	Disclosure	3:17
6.	"Right Back"	Robinson Eriksen Hermansen Kosiak Riley Chammas Vojtesak Japhe Tejeda Jolyon Skinner Joseph Thomas Michele Williams Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins	Stargate Kosiak Riley Digi Charlie Handsome	3:35
7.	"Don't Pretend" (featuring Safe)	Robinson Shane Lindstrom Vojtesak Martin McKinney Saif Musaad	Murda Beatz Charlie Handsome Doc McKinney	2:45
8.	"Paradise"	Robinson John Hill Sarah Aarons Dacoury Natche	Hill DJ Dahi	2:54
9.	"Hundred"	Robinson Ari Leff Hill Chammas Jordan Palmer Vojtesak	Hill Digi Charlie Handsome	4:37
10.	"Outta My Head" (with John Mayer)	Robinson John Mayer Hill Chammas Aarons	Hill Digi Mayer	2:57
11.	"Free Spirit"	Robinson Chammas Aarons Vojtesak Justin Scott Lucas	Digi Charlie Handsome	3:02
12.	"Twenty One"	Robinson Chammas Vojtesak	Charlie Handsome Digi	3:04
13.	"Bluffin'"	Robinson Chammas Vojtesak Aarons	Digi Charlie Handsome	3:19
14.	"Self"	Robinson Samuel Romans Chauncey Hollis	Hit-Boy	3:49
15.	"Alive"	Robinson Emily Schwartz Hill John Blanda Jonathan Hoskins	Hill	2:51
16.	"Heaven"	Robinson Josh Tillman Bobby Krlic Michael Hall David Cerminara	The Haxan Cloak Cerminara	3:33
17.	"Saturday Nights" (bonus track)	Robinson Vojtesak Chammas	Charlie Handsome Digi	3:29
Total length:				57:13

Japanese edition bonus track^[22]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
18.	"Saturday Nights" (with Kane Brown)	Robinson Vojtesak Chammas	Charlie Handsome Digi	3:29
Total length:				60:42

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 2 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 25 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 27 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[26] 97 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[27] 1 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[28] 4 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[29] 3 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 7 French Albums (SNEP)[31] 42 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 32 Irish Albums (IRMA)[33] 2 Italian Albums (FIMI)[34] 62 Latvian Albums (LAIPA)[35] 4 Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[36] 2 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[37] 2 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[38] 3 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[39] 40 Scottish Albums (OCC)[40] 34 South Korean Albums (Gaon)[41] 56 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[42] 86 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 8 UK Albums (OCC)[45] 2 US Billboard 200[21] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[46] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[47] 15 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[48] 200 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[49] 9 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[50] 46 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[51] 40 Irish Albums (IRMA)[52] 26 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[53] 8 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[54] 81 UK Albums (OCC)[55] 63 US Billboard 200[56] 13 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[57] 7 Chart (2020) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[58] 49 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[59] 31 US Billboard 200[60] 55 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[61] 37 Chart (2021) Position US Billboard 200[62] 109 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position US Billboard 200[63] 82

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[64]	Platinum	70,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[65]	2× Platinum	80,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[66]	3× Platinum	240,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[67]	Platinum	20,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[68]	Platinum	60,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI)[69]	Gold	20,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[70]	4× Platinum	60,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[71]	Platinum	20,000‡
Singapore (RIAS)[72]	Platinum	10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[73]	Gold	10,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[74]	Gold	100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[75]	2× Platinum	2,000,000‡
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.