Khalid to CBS This Morning: ‘El Paso was the first city that told me ‘You’re a star’

Khalid has been making quite the name for himself. In addition to his numerous TV appearances this past year, the critically acclaimed R&B singer from El Paso has won the MTV VMA for Best New Artist, was named one of TIME magazine's 30 most influential teens of 2017, and has sold millions of copies of his debut album, American Teen.

And all the while, as his popularity has grown and more and more media organizations trip over themselves to interview The Next Big Thing, the Americas High School graduate continues to rep El Paso.

Born in Georgia, Khalid Robinson has lived all over the U.S. and six years in Germany, but it’s El Paso, a city he ended up in a couple of years ago after his mother was relocated to Fort Bliss, that he considers his hometown.

Tuesday (Jan. 23), he sat down with CBS This Morning and once again gave El Paso props.

I spent so long in my life thinking that people couldn't enjoy me, you know what I mean? I felt like I was just so different from everybody and, ah, my voice was too different to be enjoyable and El Paso was the first city that told me ‘No, look, you’re a star.’

So how did the 19-year-old go "from an El Paso high school senior to a platinum selling artist" up for five Grammy awards this Sunday in such a short time? CBS This Morning hung out with Khalid to learn more. Watch the full interview below.