Did Khalid make adolescence or the other way around? To us Khalid is someone we know to be indefectibly like some websites always are: "under construction"! I think I never saw someone using the question mark that much. But, and that's what we also really like about him, for a mix of infinite details and, big ideas. No ranking, no hierarchy. Everything is interesting, questionable. And perfectible. Always out of reach, always beautiful. And as you learn more, you’ll know that his name has known nothing but success, whether it’s his continuous work and voluntary work for raising awareness on many worth noticing issues or about his controversial appearances he keeps on making whether it’s baring his skin for the flashes of cameras, or his writings that are constantly on the stands, where his name barely falls away, giving those must-read articles one beautiful face. And as he grows to his 80’s based life, big time magazines like VIVA described him to be living under titles like “endless adolescence” and "bubbly teen", where he as also developed a high sense for the 80s, from music and movies to fashion and beauty. While in fact he does embody the 1980’s wild beauty with his wolf eyes and his bushy brows, yet he went out and found himself a personal touch of style with a retro clash, wearing his popular-seen LBP; (Little Black Pants). But what else do you know about him?
I have to ask, when Pulp magazine talked about you and I quote “Khalid lives like its 1985”, in their (old-school-issue). How true is that, like is that as true as the sentence?
Oh yes! [Laughs]. It’s like Xanadu all the time! I pretty much lead an 80’s lifestyle on my own, and as odd as that might sound, I’m actually living the life I dream of and comfortable with. The 1980’s suits me, it suits my retro mind. The atmosphere that I surround myself with is pretty much 1985-ish, doing old fashioned stuff, buying old magazines from down town, wearing all the vintage pieces and mixing them with modern 80s fashion lines, listening to Pat Benatar and Richard Marx while walking, wearing leg warmers and bright t-shirts when writing and drawing…So yea it’s 1985 over here.
So, lets say its 1983! What will you be doing right now? Where will you be in life?
I’ll be hanging out in a deli with Billy Idol-likes after school, wearing a striped long t-shirt, sipping diet coke, bitching about Prince, reading a movie review for Meryl Streep and Harrison Ford in Rolling Stone magazine, while the song “Holiday” is playing in the background. Or maybe in my wildest dreams I’ll be doing a Mama Mia dance on the tables, and my life could be a musical, while being on the covers of Vogue all the time and doing jeans ads for Calvin Klein.
Who you’ll be friends with?
I guess Brooke Shields, Patrick Swayze and Michael J.Fox. I’ll be chasing Michael around the table because he lost my Rubik’s cube toy, while Brooke whines about her mother to Patrick! While we actually should be doing instead is taking dancing lessons from Patrick!
When did this love for that era started?
It all started two years ago, when I was boxing things down in my grandmother’s basement, till I ran into a copy of Vogue from 1981, with Brooke Shields at 15 on the cover of it, not knowing it was her at the time. I started searching and asking mom about her, she told me how everybody wanted to be her, and accomplishing things at such a young age, which made me anxious to do the same. While searching, I started developing some sort of love to the music and movies of the 1980’s even the magazines with Joanna Pacula and Madonna on the covers which lead to everything else.
You’ve build a career and a future you’re living now when boys your age were still chasing balls in school yards. How come you’ve out-grown yourself and even now you’re in your late teens?
I guess I always wanted to be older, whenever I’m growing up to another age, I’d want to grow up some more. I guess I like independence and leading a grown up life, even though many people label me to be living like its endless adolescence, I also lead a very responsible grown-up life. However, I feel with each age you need to accomplish certain things so for you to feel comfortable with aging and letting go of the past and moving to a new age, since you made each stage a completed mission.
Is writing something you feel passionate about to be your future career? Or do you have other options other than modeling?
I certainly take my writing career that I’ve built since I was 14 very seriously, and I defiantly see it as part of my future. I never took it for granted; it actually made me stronger, more heard and confident about what I do. But I also have other passions like decorating, and football. But for now I’m just being young, studying and doing what I do whether it’s writing or playing football, I’m just going with the flow, you never know where will you end up, as far as I know I might be the person who’ll discover a cure for AIDS!
Ok, in the media’s field, it’s known that your articles are controversial like Madonna with her videos. Tell us about your edge in your writings.
When I write I think two things, no matter how lame the idea of the article is, how could I turn it to a strong out-calling article, second whether the article will make a difference, or leave a finger print on others’ lives, whether it’ll help them cope, or make them aware of taboo subjects that need to be talked about. I would love to see my articles hung up on fridges! When people don’t speak about taboo subjects in Jordan, it gives me that adventurous rush to write about them and get it all out!
There are few rumors that a certain magazine (no naming), had bought an article from you about “self-mutilation” while it was on-hold for Pulp magazine, and they only published your name and they didn’t publish the article…what was that all about?
That article was actually on hold for Pulp magazine, but as soon as I know they’re not publishing it until a certain issue comes up, I decided not to wait since the article was hot and needed to be spoken about since no one did until I did. I had an offer from (the magazine) they wanted to buy the article, but they only published my name without the article. They weren’t done with the features of it, so my name had slipped by mistake since the article was actually to be published in that issue, that’s it.
In many magazines and papers, I’ve read about your stand against AIDS and child abuse and your passions on changing the world, and now that you’re a volunteer to one of Jordan’s biggest foundations toward ending child abuse. Explain your position toward such issues?
This world is heading for a major change. And countless issues had occurred up in the last 2 decades. I do give many issues a lot of my concern, such as education and animal rights, pollution and global warming; I try to take part in each issue as much as I could. But I try to focus on the environment around me and the issues we do actually face, such as child abuse and AIDS. The numbers of children who’re being abused are on a constant rise and same goes for people with AIDS and HIV+. People are being infected with such disease because of the lack of knowledge on the issue, which is being worked on now, rising awareness among schoolers and so on. But the issue of child abuse is as worse. Children are being physically abused, bullied, and banned. They’re forced not to grow happily, sexually abused by a building janitor, a cousin or even a parent. Taking the child’s innocence and unveil them to a grown up life, their not ready for, which could destroy their childhood. Which ever kind of abuse the child had gone through, it’ll affect the future forever and taking it’s time to heal.