Anik Khan
আনিক খান
Birth nameAnik Khan
Born (1989-01-13) January 13, 1989
Dhaka, Bangladesh
OriginQueens, New York, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • Singer
  • Songwriter
  • Producer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active2015–present
Labels
Websiteanikkhanmusic.com

Anik Khan is a Bangladeshi-American rapper and singer-songwriter based in New York City.[1]

Early life

Khan was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh and raised in Astoria, Queens, New York. His father was involved in politics and fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. In 1993, when Khan was four, his father moved their family to the United States.[2][3]

Khan moved to Leesburg, Virginia with his family in his early in high school and began spending his time making beats on FL Studio.[4] Khan described going through an identity crisis during this time, saying "I kinda didn't know who I was, I was like away from my culture". Khan later attended Full Sail University in Florida, studying recording arts engineering. While attending university, Khan would travel back to New York to record music. Khan's father and sister moved back to New York while his mother still lived in Virginia at their house, and Khan would divide his time after university living in the two states. Khan's mother would later move back to New York and live with them in LeFrak City, as they could no longer afford to live in Astoria.[4]

In Queens, Khan would attend day parties where he met many West Indian people, which would go onto influence his music.[4]

Career

2015–2016: Early career and I Don't Know Yet

With Fadia Kader, Def Jam's director of brand partnerships and strategic marketing, as his manager, Khan created a musical project and was on the verge of a record deal. Yet he never released anything under the name Anik Khan until the I Don't Know Yet EP, which was released in July 2015[5][3] I Don't Know Yet included the singles "Shadows" and "The Knowing". The EP was titled I Don't Know Yet to reflect Khan's feeling of not knowing the direction of his career and music at the time, with different of the songs on the record being years old at the time of its release.[6]

"Too Late Now", produced by Jarreau Vandal, was released in February 2016,[5][3] while the single "Renegade" released in June 2016. After the release of these singles, Khan's career started to slowly take off with his music being played by Ebro Darden on Beats 1 radio and doing college tours around the country.[6]

2017–2019: Kites, Big Fax and hiatus

After the release of the singles "Too Late Now" and "Renegade" and his career beginning to take off, Khan started to put together an album,[6] which would eventually be released as Kites in April 2017.[7] Khan described the album as "less about the immigrant story" and more about himself, "a young guy who's chasing a dream in his late 20s".[7] Khan also described the album as his first proper body of work.[6] The album was supported by the singles "Cleopatra", "Habibi" and "Columbus". "Cleopatra", a love ballad, combines sounds from around the world through using West Indian drums and sampling the Bollywood song "Jiya Jale" from A. R. Rahman's Dil Se.. soundtrack, while also interpolating lyrics from Craig David's song "Fill Me In".[8][9][10] "Habibi" is a celebration of immigrant culture, specifically Yemeni culture, reflecting those who run the local bodegas in Queens.[6] The song "Columbus", named after the famed explorer Christopher Columbus, is the outro to the album, and was released as a single in response to President Donald Trump's travel ban.[11] A revolutionary hymn, "Columbus" was described by Khan as about any oppressor and "what they think they did and what really happened".[6] The song ends with Bengali poetry,[11] ending the album with a reflection of his Bengali roots.

In 2018, Khan released two songs, "Oh My"[12] and "Big Fax". The former featured producer Sango and Nigerian artist Burna Boy.[12] The latter was released through Artist Originals, a platform from streaming service JioSaavn (then known as Saavn).[13] Representing immigrant pride, the video features "hijabis with AK's, sports cars AND rickshaws, and black and brown people flourishing and living their best life", according to Khan.[14]

The release of Kites was a commercial success and led to multiple offers for Khan to tour in European cities such as London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Porto.[1] However, due to his immigration status and lack of American citizenship, Khan had reject the tour offers. This led to him to being looked at, as Khan says, "like I'm this lazy kid that’s not taking advantage, and those offers dried up. I shut down. I became so depressed." As a result, Khan stopped making music for two years.[15]

2020–present: Denied, Approved and return to success

After receiving his citizenship,[15] Khan planned a 2020 release for his two-part project,[16] Denied and Approved. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown, the projects were delayed until 2021.[1]

Style and influences

Khan's favorite rapper is fellow Queens native Nas.[17] Outside of hip hop influences, Khan's music draws influence from different cultures, such as South Asian (specifically Bangladeshi and Indian) and West Indian.[4]

Personal life

Khan is a Muslim.[18] He is a fan of English football club Arsenal.[19]

Discography

Studio albums

  • Kites (2017)[20]
  • Denied (2021)[1]
  • Approved (2021)[1]

Extended plays

  • I Don't Know Yet (2015)[21]

Singles

Year Song Album Notes Reference(s)
2015 "Shadows" I Don't Know Yet [22]
"The Knowing" [23]
2016 "Too Late Know" [24]
"Renegade" [25]
"Renegade" (ALLxCAPS Remix) [26]
"Cleopatra" Kites Samples the song "Jiya Jale" from Dil Se.. [27]
2017 "Columbus" [28]
"Habibi" [29]
2018 "Oh My" (featuring Burna Boy & Sango) [30]
"Big Fax" Released under Saavn's Artist Originals platform [31]
"Renaissance Interstate" (Charles Holt featuring Anik Khan) [32]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Queens rapper Anik Khan talks 20 years as an undocumented citizen". Huck. January 10, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  2. ↑ Dustin, Desoto (June 25, 2017). "Rapper Anik Khan On His Father's 'Unconditional Love'". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Cragg, Michael (July 21, 2017). "Rapper Anik Khan: 'I'm absolutely telling the immigrant story'". The Guardian. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "The Anik Khan Episode". Soundcloud. August 29, 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Meet Queens Rapper Anik Khan". Noisey.Vice.com.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anik Khan and Ebro Darden on Beats 1 [Full Interview], retrieved December 28, 2018
  7. 1 2 "On 'Kites,' rapper Anik Khan wants to share Queens culture with the world". NBC News. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  8. ↑ Ivey, Justin. "Anik Khan Finds His 'Cleopatra' on New Single – XXL". XXL Mag. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  9. ↑ Webster, McKenzii (September 30, 2016). "Anik Khan is in search of his "Cleopatra"". EARMILK. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  10. ↑ Mahadevan, Tara. "Meet Anik Khan, the Bengali-American Rapper Fighting for the Immigrant's Perspective". DJBooth. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Listen to Anik Khan's celebration of immigrants on "Columbus"". Popdust. February 2, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Rodrigues, Ashwin (September 8, 2020). "Anik Khan Recorded a Bangla Song Because His Dad Asked Him To". Vice. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  13. ↑ "'Big Fax' By Rapper Anik Khan Is The Perfect Celebration Of Cultural Truths". MissMalini. August 29, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  14. ↑ Moen, Matt (August 22, 2018). "Anik Khan Wants to Empower Immigrants on 'Big Fax'". Paper. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Anik Khan: Street Level", American Masters (Documentary Short), In the Making, October 28, 2020, retrieved June 18, 2023
  16. ↑ "Love or Lust feat. Anik Khan", See, The Thing Is... Podcast (Podcast), June 17, 2023, retrieved June 18, 2023
  17. ↑ "Anik Khan's 'I Don't Know Yet': Exclusive EP Premiere". Billboard.
  18. ↑ Ferry, Shannan (February 10, 2017). "Queens Rapper Releases Single About Diversity Following Trump's Executive Orders". Spectrum News. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Mix the foreign with the hood". Instagram.com.
  20. ↑ Kites by Anik Khan, April 21, 2017, retrieved December 15, 2018
  21. ↑ I Don't Know Yet – EP by Anik Khan, July 24, 2015, retrieved December 15, 2018
  22. ↑ Shadows – Single by Anik Khan, June 30, 2015, retrieved December 15, 2018
  23. ↑ "Anik Khan on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  24. ↑ Too Late Now – Single by Anik Khan, February 11, 2016, retrieved December 15, 2018
  25. ↑ Renegade – Single by Anik Khan, June 17, 2016, retrieved December 15, 2018
  26. ↑ Renegade (ALLxCAPS Remix) – Single by Anik Khan, July 22, 2016, retrieved December 15, 2018
  27. ↑ Cleopatra – Single by Anik Khan, September 29, 2016, retrieved December 15, 2018
  28. ↑ Columbus – Single by Anik Khan, January 30, 2017, retrieved December 15, 2018
  29. ↑ Habibi – Single by Anik Khan, March 30, 2017, retrieved December 15, 2018
  30. ↑ Oh My (feat. Burna Boy & Sango) – Single by Anik Khan, April 20, 2018, retrieved December 15, 2018
  31. ↑ Big Fax – Single by Anik Khan, August 22, 2018, retrieved December 15, 2018
  32. ↑ Renaissance Interstate (feat. Anik Khan) – Single by Charles Holt, retrieved December 15, 2018
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