Anik Khan's Kites EP is shaping up to be a really special project.
After sharing a fiery banger "Habibi" in late March, the Bengali-born Queens rapper shows his range on the melodic, guitar-heavy title track, "Kites."
"My engineer could tell I was really down and he just pulls up a guitar and starts playing," Khan told Zane Lowe on Beats 1 about the emotional, spur-of-the-moment creation of the song. "I'm just laying down on the couch and I forget that he's here and I just start crying. I don't even realize anyone's around, but I hear the music. And I just start singing. He doesn't even tell me, but he brings a mic closer to my face as I'm laying down and he just records me."
"'Kites' is about having an aerial perspective and realizing what's important to me," he continues. "And understanding that regardless if I stay afloat or if I fall—kites just don't fall, they fall to grace. What's important is the people steering. It's basically about who's important to me and that's my loved ones. And those are the ones steering and keeping me up. Or if I'm falling, they're the ones catching me so I can go up again."
Listen below and look for the full project on April 28.
Kites tracklist
1. Cleopatra (prod. Melo-X & Anik Khan)
2. Tides (prod. aywy, Raj Makhija & Anik Khan)
3. Habibi (prod. aywy & Anik Khan)
4. Mango Nectar (prod. aywy, Don Knock, Raj Makhija, & Anik Khan)
5. Brent's Interlude (prod. Raj Makhija & Anik Khan)
6. Kites (prod. Jarreau Vandal, Raj Makhija, & Anik Khan)
7. Tangerine f/Yonkwi (prod. Yonkwi & Anik Khan)
8. Don't Behave (prod. Branko & Anik Khan)
9. Sunlight f/Luna (prod. Jarreau Vandal & Anik Khan)
10. Columbus (prod. See.Francis & Anik Khan)
