Free Spirit (Khalid album)

Khalid announced the title on social media on February 28. He had previously shown the van pictured on the cover in various posts.{{cite web|url=http://hiphop-n-more.com/2019/02/khalid-announces-new-album-free-spirit-release-date/|title=Khalid Announces New Album 'Free Spirit' & Release Date|website=HipHop-N-More|date=February 28, 2019|access-date=March 1, 2019|archive-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301135901/http://hiphop-n-more.com/2019/02/khalid-announces-new-album-free-spirit-release-date/|url-status=live}}

A short film accompanying the album was released on Khalid's YouTube channel on the same day of the album's release.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/khalid-sophomore-album-free-spirit-short-film-800891/amp/|title=Khalid Announces Sophomore Album 'Free Spirit,' Short Film|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=February 28, 2019|access-date=April 6, 2019|archive-date=April 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406125104/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/khalid-sophomore-album-free-spirit-short-film-800891/amp/|url-status=live}}

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

On March 7, "My Bad" was released with the album pre-order as a promotional single. "Self" was released on March 29, 2019.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8504196/khalid-announces-new-song-self|title=Khalid Announces New Track 'Self' From Upcoming 'Free Spirit' Album|magazine=Billboard|last=Rowley|first=Glenn|date=March 26, 2019|access-date=March 28, 2019|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327131007/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8504196/khalid-announces-new-song-self|url-status=live}} On April 3, "Don't Pretend", featuring Safe, was released with the launch of Free Spirit Radio on Beats 1.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8505501/khalid-dont-pretend-free-spirit-radio-beats-one|title=Khalid Releases Silky New Track 'Don't Pretend,' Launches Free Spirit Radio on Beats 1|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2019-04-04|archive-date=2019-04-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403203301/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8505501/khalid-dont-pretend-free-spirit-radio-beats-one|url-status=live}}

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

{{Music ratings

| ADM = 5.2/10{{cite web|url=http://www.anydecentmusic.com/review/9824/Khalid-Free-Spirit.aspx|title=Free Spirit by Khalid reviews|publisher=AnyDecentMusic?|access-date=September 13, 2019|archive-date=September 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920210529/http://www.anydecentmusic.com/review/9824/Khalid-Free-Spirit.aspx|url-status=live}}

| MC = 58/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/free-spirit/khalid|title=Free Spirit by Khalid Reviews and Tracks|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=November 28, 2019|archive-date=July 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723225646/https://www.metacritic.com/music/free-spirit/khalid|url-status=live}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/free-spirit-mw0003260242|title=Free Spirit – Khalid|publisher=AllMusic|last=Kellman|first=Andy|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=April 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407173653/https://www.allmusic.com/album/free-spirit-mw0003260242|url-status=live}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2score = C+{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/music-reviews/2019/04/04/khalid-free-spirit-review/|title=Khalid fails to stand out on sluggish Free Spirit: EW review|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|last=Fitzmaurice|first=Larry|date=April 4, 2019|access-date=April 5, 2019|archive-date=April 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405121212/https://ew.com/music-reviews/2019/04/04/khalid-free-spirit-review/|url-status=live}}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/04/khalid-free-spirit-review-rca-gen-z-singer|title=Khalid: Free Spirit review – streaming star crashes into cliche|work=The Guardian|last=Petridis|first=Alexis|author-link=Alexis Petridis|date=April 4, 2019|access-date=April 5, 2019|archive-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404164011/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/04/khalid-free-spirit-review-rca-gen-z-singer|url-status=live}}

| rev4 = The Independent

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/khalid-free-spirit-review-album-stream-tracklist-release-date-tour-a8852986.html|title=Khalid, Free Spirit review: A perfectly credible record that lacks personality|work=The Independent|last=Brown|first=Helen|date=April 4, 2019|access-date=April 5, 2019|archive-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404134310/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/khalid-free-spirit-review-album-stream-tracklist-release-date-tour-a8852986.html|url-status=live}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/khalid-free-spirit-review-2469703|title=Khalid – 'Free Spirit' review|work=NME|last=Spencer|first=Alex|date=April 3, 2019|access-date=November 28, 2019|archive-date=November 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128040910/https://www.nme.com/reviews/khalid-free-spirit-review-2469703|url-status=live}}

| rev6 = The Observer

| rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/07/khalid-free-spirit-review|title=Khalid: Free Spirit review – an engaging follow-up|work=The Observer|last=Joshi|first=Tara|date=April 7, 2019|access-date=May 3, 2019|archive-date=May 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509131150/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/07/khalid-free-spirit-review|url-status=live}}

| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7score = 4.7/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/khalid-free-spirit/|title=Khalid: Free Spirit|work=Pitchfork|last=Pierre|first=Alphonse|date=April 10, 2019|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413102608/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/khalid-free-spirit/|url-status=live}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-khalid-free-spirit-817798/|title=Review: Khalid Looks Inward on 'Free Spirit'|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Dolan|first=Jon|date=April 5, 2019|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=April 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411155433/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-khalid-free-spirit-817798/|url-status=live}}

| rev9 = The Times

| rev9score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/khalid-free-spirit-review-35cbzp6z8|title=Khalid: Free Spirit review|work=The Times|last=Hodgkinson|first=Will|author-link=Will Hodgkinson|date=April 5, 2019|access-date=April 13, 2019|url-access=subscription|archive-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413102610/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/khalid-free-spirit-review-35cbzp6z8|url-status=live}}

| rev10 = Vice (Expert Witness)

| rev10Score = A−{{cite magazine|url=https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/wjv8bq/robert-christgau-on-khalids-textured-anxiety|title=Robert Christgau on Khalid's Textured Anxiety|magazine=Vice|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=April 19, 2019|access-date=April 20, 2019|archive-date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420123257/https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/wjv8bq/robert-christgau-on-khalids-textured-anxiety|url-status=live}}

}}

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.

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".

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."

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.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8507048/khalid-free-spirit-debuts-at-no-1-on-billboard-200-albums-chart|title=Khalid's 'Free Spirit' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart|magazine=Billboard|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|date=April 14, 2019|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-date=February 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227084627/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8507048/khalid-free-spirit-debuts-at-no-1-on-billboard-200-albums-chart|url-status=live}}

{{Track listing

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = Intro

| writer1 = {{hlist|Khalid Robinson|Jamil Chammas}}

| extra1 = Digi

| length1 = 3:32

| title2 = Bad Luck

| writer2 = {{hlist|Robinson|Alexander Shuckburgh|Kurtis McKenzie|Michael "Scribz" Riley}}

| extra2 = {{hlist|Al Shux|McKenzie|Scribz Riley}}

| length2 = 3:51

| title3 = My Bad

| writer3 = {{hlist|Robinson|Dernst Emile II}}

| extra3 = D'Mile

| length3 = 2:43

| title4 = Better

| writer4 = {{hlist|Robinson|Mikkel S. Eriksen|Tor Erik Hermansen|Ryan Vojtesak|Chammas|Denis Kosiak}}

| extra4 = {{hlist|Stargate|Charlie Handsome|Digi|Kosiak}}

| length4 = 3:49

| title5 = Talk

| writer5 = {{hlist|Robinson|Howard Lawrence|Guy Lawrence}}

| extra5 = Disclosure

| length5 = 3:17

| title6 = Right Back

| writer6 = {{hlist|Robinson|Eriksen|Hermansen|Kosiak|Riley|Chammas|Vojtesak|Japhe Tejeda|Jolyon Skinner|Joseph Thomas|Michele Williams|Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins}}

| extra6 = {{hlist|Stargate|Kosiak|Riley|Digi|Charlie Handsome}}

| length6 = 3:35

| title7 = Don't Pretend

| note7 = featuring Safe

| writer7 = {{hlist|Robinson|Shane Lindstrom|Vojtesak|Martin McKinney|Saif Musaad}}

| extra7 = {{hlist|Murda Beatz|Charlie Handsome|Doc McKinney}}

| length7 = 2:45

| title8 = Paradise

| writer8 = {{hlist|Robinson|John Hill|Sarah Aarons|Dacoury Natche}}

| extra8 = {{hlist|Hill|DJ Dahi}}

| length8 = 2:54

| title9 = Hundred

| writer9 = {{hlist|Robinson|Ari Leff|Hill|Chammas|Jordan Palmer|Vojtesak}}

| extra9 = {{hlist|Hill|Digi|Charlie Handsome}}

| length9 = 4:37

| title10 = Outta My Head

| note10 = with John Mayer

| writer10 = {{hlist|Robinson|John Mayer|Hill|Chammas|Aarons}}

| extra10 = {{hlist|Hill|Digi|Mayer}}

| length10 = 2:57

| title11 = Free Spirit

| writer11 = {{hlist|Robinson|Chammas|Aarons|Vojtesak|Justin Scott Lucas}}

| extra11 = {{hlist|Digi|Charlie Handsome}}

| length11 = 3:02

| title12 = Twenty One

| writer12 = {{hlist|Robinson|Chammas|Vojtesak}}

| extra12 = {{hlist|Charlie Handsome|Digi}}

| length12 = 3:04

| title13 = Bluffin'

| writer13 = {{hlist|Robinson|Chammas|Vojtesak|Aarons}}

| extra13 = {{hlist|Digi|Charlie Handsome}}

| length13 = 3:19

| title14 = Self

| writer14 = {{hlist|Robinson|Samuel Romans|Chauncey Hollis}}

| extra14 = Hit-Boy

| length14 = 3:49

| title15 = Alive

| writer15 = {{hlist|Robinson|Emily Schwartz|Hill|John Blanda|Jonathan Hoskins}}

| extra15 = Hill

| length15 = 2:51

| title16 = Heaven

| writer16 = {{hlist|Robinson|Josh Tillman|Bobby Krlic|Michael Hall|David Cerminara}}

| extra16 = {{hlist|The Haxan Cloak|Cerminara}}

| length16 = 3:33

| title17 = Saturday Nights

| note17 = bonus track

| writer17 = {{hlist|Robinson|Vojtesak|Chammas}}

| extra17 = {{hlist|Charlie Handsome|Digi|}}

| length17 = 3:29

| total_length = 57:13

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Japanese edition bonus track{{cite web |url=http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SICP-6012?s_ssid=e42ab35ccd1ec15f49 |title=CDJapan : Free Spirit Khalid CD Album |publisher=CDJapan |access-date=4 May 2019}}

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title18 = Saturday Nights

| note18 = with Kane Brown

| writer18 = {{hlist|Robinson|Vojtesak|Chammas}}

| extra18 = {{hlist|Charlie Handsome|Digi|}}

| length18 = 3:29

| total_length = 60:42

}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2019|certyear=2021|certref={{cite web|url=https://www.aria.com.au/charts/hip-hop-r-and-b-albums-chart/2021-03-22|title=ARIA Top 40 Hip Hop/R&B Albums For the Week of 22 March 2021|publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association|date=March 22, 2021|accessdate=March 22, 2021}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Brazil|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=2019|certyear=2023|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|access-date=April 29, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|award=Platinum|number=3|type=album|relyear=2019|certyear=2024|access-date=December 27, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2019|certyear=2022|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|id=11916|access-date=December 20, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Netherlands|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=2019|certyear=2019|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|access-date=October 10, 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=2019|certyear=2025|source=radioscope|access-date=February 23, 2025|number=4}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Norway|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2019|certyear=2019|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|access-date=September 13, 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Singapore|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2019|certyear=2019|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|access-date=January 9, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=2019|certyear=2019|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|access-date=October 11, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=2019|certyear=2020|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|access-date=May 2, 2020|id=15833-4499-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2019|certyear=2020|artist=Khalid|title=Free Spirit|access-date=August 5, 2019|number=2}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

{{reflist}}

{{Khalid}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2019 albums

Category:Khalid (singer) albums

Category:Albums produced by Al Shux

Category:Albums produced by D'Mile

Category:Albums produced by DJ Dahi

Category:Albums produced by Hit-Boy

Category:Albums produced by Murda Beatz

Category:Albums produced by Stargate