(Standard Edition Artwork)Artist: Billy
Title: BILAL
Genre(s): R&B, Pop, Trip Hop, Hip Hop, Nu-Disco, Alternative R&B, Garage
Length: 45:35 (standard) | 64:01 (deluxe)
Writers: B.Khan, D.Khan, Kidd Amaze, BLOOM, S.Hollywood
Producers: Billy, BLOOM, Havoc the Saint, Deneil
Format(s): CD, Vinyl, Cassette, Digital Download, Streaming
Label: Five Pesky Kids
Singles Released: Attention (#1), Gemini (#1), Fuck With You (#1), Safe Passage (#1), XXXHIBITION (#1), The Entertainer (#1), Model Citizen (#1)
BILAL is the debut solo studio album by British-Pakistani singer-songwriter, Billy. It is set to be released in June 2024 after multiple postponements through Five Pesky Kids Records, which Khan co-owns alongside his fellow
Weekend band members. Work on the album began as far back as 2019 with sessions running concurrently alongside the promotion of Weekend's third studio album,
"Welcome to the Real World". The project was originally titled
"Tarantula", with Khan's debut solo single
"Attention" intended as its lead single. Two other singles in the form of
"Gemini" and
"Fuck With You", however, despite their success, Khan relegated them to deluxe edition only bonus tracks. The album was overhauled and majorly reworked on from 2022, receiving the new title of
"BILAL", Khan's given birthname. The dual release of
"Safe Passage" and
"XXXHIBITION" relaunched the rebooted project in the summer of 2022. Success for Khan continued with the acclaimed released of
"The Entertainer" and
"Model Citizen", the latter of which features the talents of Kara Romero and Kidd Amaze. So far, all singles from
"BILAL" have reached the #1 position on Chart Heat Singles. Combining his solo releases and guest appearances on other tracks, Khan has amassed a total of 12 chart-topping singles, thus making him the solo male artist with the most #1s in Chart Heat history.
Primarily an R&B and alternative R&B record, it also incorporates elements of pop, hip hop, trip hop, Britpop, electropop, funk, nu-disco, and garage. For the creation of the record's soundscape, Khan took inspiration from his biggest musical loves in his youth, fusing the sounds of 90s and 00s Britain which shaped his childhood with the sonics of the American R&B and hip hop artists he idolised. Billy self-produced several tracks on the album while also serving as executive producer. Khan's younger brother
Deneil,
BLOOM, and
Havoc the Saint also handled production across the record. The release of
BILAL will mark the first ever solo record from a member of
Weekend, coming 13 years after their formation. Khan is also set to promote the album throughout 2024 with his first ever tour;
BILAL: Live on Tour.
BACKGROUNDKhan initially rose to fame as a member of pop boy band
Weekend, formed by former-
G2L member
Lyrica Ocha in 2011. The group quickly rose to prominence in 2012 following the release of their debut single,
"Everything About You". The band's popularity and commercial success rapidly grew from strength to strength in 2012 with further singles and the release of their debut album,
"Fired Up", with the media dubbing the era as
"Weekendmania". A global phenomenon, Weekend were highly publicised figures, hot topics and a much sought after musical act. The band's fame and success continued to grow over the years, taking control of their own brand and careers by creating their own record label, Five Pesky Kids. Due to his "bad boy" image, Billy often found himself at the centre of media controversies and highly sensationalised pop culture moments as an individual figure. Despite
Oscar Ward initially being the band's lead singer, Khan's "R&B voice" in an otherwise rock-pop group, him being the band's only person of colour, and his headline-grabbing public persona aided Billy in carving out a fanbase of his own.
Billy's first ever release outside of
Weekend came in 2012 when acclaimed DJ and producer
mISTER_b sought Khan out and asked him to become the featured vocalist on the track
"The Energy". Only in Weekend's debut era, Khan had no desire of launching a solo career at the time but accepted the offer as a "one-off". The single became an unexpected success, debuting atop Chart Heat, making Billy the first
Weekend member to achieve a #1 outside the group. Since the success of this release, the speculation, anticipation and demand for a solo career among fans and the press began. Throughout the rest of the 2010's Khan sporadically appeared as a featured artists on other tracks such as;
"Take Aim" with
Deneil,
"Something for the Fire" with
Andrea,
"Call On Me" with
Ellie-Grace Summers, and
"Bad Behavior [The Bad Boy Refix]" with
Suzie, all of which became #1 singles.
In 2019, after years of collaborations and speculation, Billy officially began writing and recording for what would go on to become his debut solo album. Despite the announcement, Khan has continuously made it clear that he has no desire to part ways with
Weekend and remains an active member to this day. His successful solo career has been likened to that of
Nadia Berry, who also carved out a fruitful solo discography without parting ways from her respective girl group,
GirlSpice.
RECORDING & DEVELOPMENTWork on the album officially began in July 2019. Initial recording sessions saw Khan collaborate with numerous writers and producers, including
BLOOM and long-term
Weekend collaborator,
Sara Hollywood. Khan initially entered the project envisioning a "big" record with multiple collaborators, high profile promotional techniques and to make a large statement to launch his first solo endeavour. An initial version of the album was completed in 2021 but Khan believed that despite the final product sounding "really good", it came across as "faceless" and he confessed that the curating of the record became a "box ticking exercise" rather than a true "passion project". The COVID-19 pandemic also interfered with the album's earlier sessions and allowed Khan time to reflect on the material and what he wanted for the record.
While a multitude of songs were recorded during these sessions throughout 2019 to 2021, only three songs from this timeframe have made the final track listing;
"Wanna Share Some Guilt?",
"Model Citizen", and
"1993", with some others serving as deluxe edition only tracks. The remaining songs from the
"Tarantula" era were scrapped and Billy began to refocus his vision, retitling the project as
"BILAL" and making a conscious decision to write and produce more songs singlehandedly, adding a more personal touch and trimming any excess noise and interference.
From 2022 onward, Billy began working on what would become today's incarnation of
"BILAL", swapping out his desire for radio hits in favour of much more personal, revealing, reflective, and socially poignant material. The rebooted project was revitalised with the dual release of
"Safe Passage" and
"XXXHIBITION". The former received acclaim for showcasing Khan's sensitive side; emoting and revealing personal struggles as opposed to his usual "cheeky" bravado which he adopts for the public. These new releases focused on an R&B and urban contemporary soundscape, the direction in which
"BILAL" would take, leaving behind the poppier, electronic sounds of past releases,
"Attention" and
"Fuck With You".
The record has been subject of many delays, with Khan repeatedly refining the material and meticulously polishing and curating the final product. Speaking on the frequent postponing, Khan said;
"I get it, it's a pain in the arse and trust me, nobody is as frustrated as I am. You only get one shot at a debut album and first impressions matter. This is my first statement as a solo artist. My name is going to be attached to this album for life. I want it to be the perfect representation of me and who I am as a musician. I want it to say exactly what I want and sound exactly how I want. It'll be worth the wait, I promise.""BILAL" was officially completed in the spring of 2024 and became available to pre-order from April 29th. Despite the announcement and links going live, the album has once again been slightly reworked, with the track
"1993" seemingly going from a solo track to having a Deneil feature, as well as a reordered track listing.
MUSIC & LYRICSA "deeply personal" project,
"BILAL" both musically and lyrically draws on Khan's biggest inspirations and life experiences, hence the reasoning for self-titling the project. Primarily an R&B and alternative R&B record, it also incorporates elements of pop, hip hop, trip hop, Britpop, electropop, funk, nu-disco, and garage. The album delves into multiple different moods and textures, mixing a variety of styles and subject matters from "sultry, sexy slow jams" to "tearjerking, open wound confessionals". Despite the varying genre influences,
"BILAL" remains a cohesive body of work due to Khan's personal song-writing style and tapping into all aspects of his personality that the public know and love from his hyper-sexual image to his outspoken political stances. Early reviews of the album agree that it is
"quintessentially Billy" and that it
"encompasses a firecracker of a person and life in one fell swoop".
Sonically, the album fuses elements of both British and American R&B which he grew up around. Billy has often cited Janet Jackson and Aaliyah as inspirations, confessing his love and admiration for them on several occasions. In a 2022 interview with Billboard, Billy referred to Jackson's
"The Velvet Rope" album and Aaliyah's self-titled opus as "mood boards" for the record. It may also be noted that the cover art for the aforementioned albums as well as
"BILAL" feature the artists posing against a simple red background. The tracks
"Safe Passage" and
"Lay Your Love" have been described by Billy himself as "love letters to the artistry of
Aaliyah and
Brandy". In keeping with the ode towards old school R&B, the track
"Good For Me" samples
"Freak Like Me" by
Adina Howard.
Conversely, multiple tracks stray away from American inspired sonics and see Khan fully embrace his British nationality. Opening track
"The Entertainer" features Billy delivering his lines in a London rap-like cadence, putting heavy infliction on his Cockney accent.
"1993" features a verse from UK Grime artist and Billy's younger sibling, Deneil.
"Dr Pepper" has been described as a "garage-infused ode to a love that never was", a genre birthed and popularised in the UK in the early 2000's. Meanwhile, the closing track on the standard edition of the album,
"Love The Boy", nods towards Britpop which soundtracked Khan's upbringing in 1990's London.
Lyrically,
"Bilal" explores multiple different themes from playful to serious including; growing up as a British-Pakistani Muslim, unrequited love, mental health struggles, abandonment issues, racism, politics, bisexuality, sexual intercourse, infidelity, class systems, violence, and relationships. Khan has stated that all of the tracks on
"BILAL" come from a place of truth, either reflecting his own beliefs and lived experiences, or being based on events he has witnessed.
SINGLESSo far, seven singles have been released from
"BILAL" with the first three only appearing on the deluxe version of the album. All of the singles that have been released thus far have charted at #1 on Chart Heat Singles. Billy purposely decided not to release any songs with featured artists for the majority of the campaign up until
"Model Citizen", not wanting to rely on anyone else's star power and make a name for himself as a viable act. Khan also spaced out the releases of the singles, not just in part because of the album delays, but due to his belief that each song should "have its own moment in the sun" before the full project drops.
"Attention" was released as Billy's debut solo single on February 17, 2020. It was initially intended as the lead single of the project but has since been demoted to bonus track status. An instant success, the "electro-R&B" song debuted atop Chart Heat Singles and received critical acclaim with many critics calling it the "perfect" launch for Khan as a solo entity, with fun and coquettish lyrics that reflect his celebrity image.
"Gemini" was the second single to be lifted from the album. It was officially released on August 5, 2020.
"Gemini" is a "slow jam" R&B track with very delicate and subtle electronic flavours underlying the smooth, throwback beats. The song was highlighted for showing a more subdued side to Billy's vocals as well as showcasing his often underutilised lower register. The release was lauded for tapping into his love for R&B. It debuted atop Chart Heat Singles.
"Fuck With You" was released as Billy's third single on May 10, 2021. A clean radio edit titled
"Mess With You" was also simultaneously released for airplay. "Fuck With You" is an up-tempo disco and house track with underlying smatterings of R&B and hip-hop woven throughout. It features Billy's signature vocal belts and runs. Many critics praised his performance on the track and commended Billy for his unexpected take on the disco genre. "Fuck With You" entered at #1 on Chart Heat Singles. It was the last single from the initial
"Tarantula" incarnation of the album. It now features as a bonus track on
"BILAL""Safe Passage" was released simultaneously with
"XXXHIBITION" as the fourth and fifth singles from the album, as well as the rebooted leads for the
"BILAL" campaign on April 11, 2022. "Safe Passage" is a down-tempo R&B affair, containing sparse and soft beats, silky vocal deliveries, and a lush piano arrangement. It seen Billy open up about his fears and insecurities in a brutally honest manner. The single debuted at #2 on Chart Heat Singles, blocked from the top spot by none other than
"XXXHIBITION".
"Safe Passage" reached the #1 position the following week.
"XXXHIBITION" was released simultaneously with
"Safe Passage" as the fourth and fifth singles from the album, as well as the rebooted leads for the
"BILAL" campaign on April 11, 2022.
"XXXHIBITION" is a up-tempo R&B affair with elements of hip-hop and crunk underlying and interspersing throughout the track. Lyrically, it explores the setting of Billy engaging in sexual intercourse with another male partner. The track was the centre of a lot of controversy due to the insinuation of unprotected sex as well as the artwork featuring a shot of Khan's naked groin area while he covers his genitals with one hand.
"XXXHIBITION" debuted at #1 on Chart Heat Singles and is currently Billy's biggest selling single as a solo act.
"The Entertainer" was released as the album's sixth single on July 7, 2023. Sonically,
"The Entertainer" is a hip-hop and R&B song with elements of trip-hop and electropop woven throughout the track. It has been described as Billy's "darkest" sounding release yet.
"The Entertainer" is braggadocious and seemingly a response to the treatment he has received from others throughout his time in the music industry. He alludes to themes such as racism and classism, referring to several negative stereotypes associated with people from poverty-stricken areas and the South Asian community within London. Khan's rap-like delivery was heavily praised by critics. It debuted at #1 on Chart Heat Singles and won "Song of the Year" at the 2024 Universal Music Awards.
"Model Citizen" was released as the album's seventh single on March 6, 2024. It features guest appearances from
Kara Romero and
Kidd Amaze.
"Model Citizen" is a politically charged trip hop and rap song which references both Khan's lived experiences growing up in Hackney throughout the 1990's and 2000's, while simultaneously reflecting upon current issues across the globe today. The track debuted at #1 on Chart Heat Singles and has been lauded for its brutally honest social commentary.
TRACK LISTINGThe Entertainer(B.Khan)1993 feat. Deneil(B.Khan, D.Khan)Dr Pepper(B.Khan)Mindreader(B.Khan)Safe Passage(B.Khan)XXXHIBITION(B.Khan)Wanna Share Some Guilt?(B.Khan, S.Hollywood)Sick(B.Khan)Lay Your Love feat. Keshia Love(B.Khan)Model Citizen feat. Kara Romero & Kidd Amaze(B.Khan, Kidd Amaze)Hackney Heroes(B.Khan)Love The Boy(B.Khan)- Deluxe Edition Tracks -
Attention(B.Khan, BLOOM, S.Hollywood)Gemini(B.Khan)Fuck With You(B.Khan)Good For Me(B.Khan)Billy R U OK?(B.Khan)
