The title and cover artwork of Khalid’s debut album American Teen says it all: this is the face of American youth, particularly in a year when entire movements of minorities sprung up against a president who didn’t share their key principles.

This was a particularly bold message and image for corporate brands to take on, having long relied on campaigns and partnerships with a certain type of talent (mostly Caucasian) to get their message across. But once American Teen debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart with little advance hype, Khalid was already beginning to prove his influence as an important voice of his generation who could help bridge the gap between corporate America and Gen Z.

Over the course of the next year, Khalid aligned with over a half-dozen strategic partners who helped him touch new fans and travel to new “Location”’s in the process.

Forever 21’s campaign began rolling out digitally at the end of May and expanded into retail and out-of-home throughout the summer. In October, Citi integrated Khalid into its Citi Concert Series on NBC’s “Today” to tease his summer 2018 tour and Citi’s exclusive pre-sale.

In November, Southwest Airlines announced a program called “Khalid On the Rise” which coincided with Khalid’s five GRAMMY Award nominations, including Best New Artist.

When GRAMMY Week came to New York City in January 2018, Khalid celebrated with: Citi, who presented an exclusive event at SoHo House for Khalid and his friends, family and partners that included a special appearance by Sam Smith; Nielsen Entertainment, who featured Khalid as the headliner of its annual Pre-GRAMMY Bash, and Uber, who featured Khalid in a commercial that aired during CBS’ GRAMMY telecast. In April, Hollister signed on as Khalid’s latest partner for a massive multimedia campaign.

Khalid’s partnership with Forever 21 reached 10 million+ subscribers through the brand’s digital newsletter, who helped sell out the summer men’s collection that Khalid modeled in campaign materials. In turn, Forever 21 proved their impact on Khalid’s career by encouraging its large fanbase on Instagram (13.8 million followers) to vote for Khalid as Best New Artist at the 2017 Video Music Awards - the campaign worked, and Khalid took home the Moonman at the August ceremony.

Citi’s pre-sale was one of the brand’s top-sellers in R&B and hip-hop for 2017, Southwest Airlines drew a capacity crowd to its launch event with Khalid in San Jose, CA and Uber’s commercial on GRAMMY night was seen by 19.8 million viewers.

In total, Khalid’s American Teen finished 2017 as the No. 10 album in North America, according to Nielsen Music, selling 1.22 million copies in traditional and streaming-equivalent sales.

In an ever-crowded music marketplace where superstars like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Eminem and Justin Timberlake are struggling to connect with new music, the odds of breaking through as a new artist are stacked. But Khalid’s American Teen finished 2017 as the most-consumed album by a new artist (and 10th most-consumed overall), according to Nielsen Music - a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that Khalid was just 19. How’d he pull it off? With the support and cultural currency provided by his strategic brand partners Forever 21, Citi, Southwest Airlines, Nielsen Entertainment, Uber and Hollister.

Shortly after American Teen was released to rave reviews, Khalid wanted to find a way to get his image and message in front of as many different audiences as possible.

Much in the same way that his talents as a recording artist were attracting big-name artists like Calvin Harris, Marshmello and Logic for featured appearances on their songs, Khalid wanted to bring that same collaborative spirit to corporate partners.

Khalid’s first major brand alliance was with Forever 21, who tapped him for a three-pronged partnership that became the brand’s most extensive campaign with a musical artist to date. Since the campaign was rolling out just as Khalid’s profile was rising in the United States as well as Europe, being able to tap into Forever 21’s massive reach of 800 stores worldwide as well as billboards featuring his name and image in highly visible locations such as Times Square.

Situation: In the spring of 2016, Khalid was a high school senior in El Paso, Texas who released a song called “Location” to his SoundCloud account to help drum up votes in his school’s race for Prom King. Not only did Khalid take the crown, the viral buzz quickly spread nationwide – securing him a major-label record deal by July, and a debut album set for release in early 2017.

Brief: In order to break through at a national and eventually global level, especially with a name that could create confusion with DJ/producer DJ Khaled, Khalid needed partners that could get his name, face and music in front of audiences he couldn’t reach on his own.

Objectives: Brand partners had to share Khalid’s core values of celebrating youth, diversity and inclusion. They also had to have a reach additive to Khalid’s existing fanbase.