Anik Khan is a Bangladeshi-American hip hop artist.

Early life

Khan was born in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and raised in Astoria, Queens, New York. His father was involved in politics and fought in the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

. In 1993, when Khan was four, his father moved their family to the United States. Khan moved to Leesburg, Virginia with his family in his early in high school and began spending his time making beats on

FL Studio FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is avail ...

. 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 Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center ...

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 LeFrak City (originally spelled Lefrak and pronounced ) is a 4,605-apartment development in the southernmost region of Corona and the easternmost part of Elmhurst, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located between Junct ...

, as they could no longer afford to live in Astoria. In Queens, Khan would attend day parties where he met many

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

people, which would go onto influence his music.

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 ''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. "Too Late Now", produced by Jarreau Vandal, was released in February 2016, 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 Ibrahim Jamil "Ebro" Darden (born March 17, 1975) is an American radio personality, broadcaster, and DJ. Until 2014, he was Vice President of Programming for Emmis Communications' New York contemporary urban station WQHT (Hot 97). He is current ...

Beats 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), ...

radio and doing college tours around the country.

2017–present: ''Kites'' and rising success

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, which would eventually be released as ''Kites'' in April 2017. 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". Khan also described the album as his first proper body of work. 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 Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

song "Jiya Jale" from

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

's '' Dil Se..'' soundtrack, while also interpolating lyrics from

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...

's song "

Fill Me In "Fill Me In" is the debut solo single of British singer Craig David. It was released on 3 April 2000 as the lead single from his debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'' (2000). The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 9 April 200 ...

". "Habibi" is a celebration of immigrant culture, specifically

Yemeni culture The culture of Yemen has an ancient cultural history, influenced by Islam. Due to its unique geographic location, Yemen has acquired a very distinctive culture from its neighbors, historically and culturally. Literature Literature in Yemen ...

, reflecting those who run the local bodegas in Queens. The song "Columbus", named after the famed explorer

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, is the outro to the album, and was released as a single in response to President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's travel ban. A revolutionary hymn, "Columbus" was described by Khan as about any oppressor and "what they think they did and what really happened". The song ends with

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, ending the album with a reflection of his Bengali roots.

Style and influences

Khan's favourite rapper is fellow Queens native

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

. Outside of hip hop influences, Khan's music draws influence from different cultures, such as

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

(specifically

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

and

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

) and

Personal life

Khan is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. He is a fan of English football club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Kites'' (2017)

Extended plays

* ''I Don't Know Yet'' (2015)

Singles

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Anik Rappers from New York City Living people Bengali musicians 21st-century Bangladeshi musicians Bangladeshi male musicians Bangladeshi songwriters Bangladeshi composers Bangladeshi lyricists 1989 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians ar:أنيك خان bn:আনিক খান hi:अनिक खान pa:ਅਨਿਕ ਖਾਨ pnb:انک خان ur:انک خان