“Okay, so what happen to” is a new series that I would like to start. My goal is to research and possibly find out what happen to celebrities who once seem like they were making a name for themselves. But eventually fell off or went into the shadows. The goal is to highlight those artist for their success and to see what they are up to now! Maybe in the future,I will be able to interview these individuals for them to tell their stories and what life is now.
Disclaimer: The information here is provided by second and third party sources. Majority of it is from credible news sources that will hyperlinked.
Background
The first artist is Khalil Amir Sharieff, born on November 22, 1994 in Sacramento, California. Sharieff grew up in a foster home until the age of 9. He moved back home with his mother once she was pregnant with his brother. As far as his father, he was not in his life. Sharieff also became the babysitter for his little brother which gave him time to start making music using a tape recorder and radio.
Rise of fame
On the television show call So You Want To Be A Star, Sharieff was going to be a featured artist. Sadly, the show did not air. In 2008 at the age of 13 years old he caught the attention of record executive L.A Reid. In that same year Sharieff signed to Def Jam Recordings on the Teen Island label. Sharieff signing with Teen Island was to help develop his career with professionals for longevity in the industry.
He did not drop a debut album with Def Jam Recordings while he was signed. Instead fans got a couple singles. He released an EP called, The Girlfriend Package which featured two songs. One lead to his first television appearance on BET’s 106 and Park. “Hey Lil Mama” was the song and featured Young Money’s young rapper Lil Twist.
Khalil was that cute new voice that definitely made the tween and teen girls happy. Features then included more Lil Twist records and even one on Diggy Simmons first mixtape.
In 2010, Diggy Simmons, Aaron Fresh and Khalil all appeared in upcoming singer Jessica Jarrell’s “Up and Running” video as well. Too bad Simmons ended up winning her heart.
It seemed Sharieff and Twist’s relationship was growing stronger and stronger as a dynamic duo music pair. They released a single called, “Over Again” in 2011 that also came along with a video.The two eventually dropped a more mature mixtape in 2012 called 3 Weeks In Miami. That talked about girls, breakup and whatever else teen boys chat about. Sharieff went on tour, as a feature on the Teen Island Fan Fest Tour. Alongside Aaron Fresh, Jessica Jarrell and Burnham. He also had the opportunity to be an opening act for Usher on his OMG Tour in Canada.
Sharieff even started a Youtube documentary series called Khalil: A Long Story Short. His first and only episode released in September 2012. The series shows him in the studio, and skateboarding.
So what happen to Khalil?
As years go on, Sharieff is no longer apart of Def Jam Recordings. He actually leaves the label by the help of Justin Bieber who signs him to his label. Sharieff finds his self in the news because of the friendship with Bieber. Who was also good friends with Lil Twist.
In January 2014, police arrest him alongside Bieber due to reckless driving. At the time Sharieff was 19 years old and was racing Bieber in a red Ferrari. Bieber was driving a yellow Lamborghini.
Any big update on Khalil? In 2018 MYCOMEUP did an interview with him where he talks about his start into music, contracts and challenges he faced.
Sharieff releases singles, and mixtapes still to this day. He has a mixtape called Prove It All, released in 2017. In 2020 he released an EP called Because I Said So.
In 2021, Sharieff has been releasing new music back to back. Two latest singles are, “How” and “Faceto Face”.
Khalil still has a chance
Personally I believe that management might have sucked for him while he was growing up. At the same time they were developing Justin Bieber. The early 2010s heavily focused on Bieber.
Maybe at the time they didn’t exactly have a plan for Sharieff. Which is quite sad because he was talented and was a new face. But if you look at the artists I mention as well in this piece they didn’t exactly get a chance to shine big neither. It makes me wonder why these teen stars did not get the stardom they deserve?
In the interview with MYCOMEUP, Sharieff does mention the heavy influence Reid had on him. That also led to a challenging point once Reid is fired from the label.
For me it just sucks that when you look up this artist name the last news of him is the topic of the arrests. Hopefully, in the future with his new music coming out he will be interviewed.
Sharieff is currently on Instagram @khalil. You can find his latest singles on Apple Music and Spotify.
Plus he plans to release a album this year titled AMIR according to his Twitter.
Interested in my music discussions? Check out my hit or miss series!