Khalid has moved on.
Last year, the pop star, 27, confirmed he was gay after an ex outed him online. While the experience was difficult to navigate at the time, Khalid decided to embrace finally being out, and that sense of liberation inspired his new album After the Sun Goes Down, which he released Friday, Oct. 10.
The record is filled with sexy dance-pop bangers and finds Khalid — for the first time in his career — using he/him pronouns when discussing paramours in his lyrics.
Since he’s been out, he tells PEOPLE, “it’s a flood of just tons of energy in my DMs.” But he’s remaining mum on his dating life for now. “It ain’t nobody’s business!” he deadpans with a good-humored laugh.
Nevertheless Khalid’s reveling in the freedom he’s found out of the closet. The biggest differences in his life this past year? “Just being comfortable in gay places publicly, with no shame; maybe twisting my hips while I walk down the street in public; and playing with my balance of femininity and masculinity,” he says. “I feel like I was never able to do that freely before. Now I am, and I’m just having so much fun. No more hiding.”
As for the man who outed him, Khalid (born Khalid Robinson) says he hasn’t had contact with him — but he found closure long ago.
“I feel like when it comes down to him, I feel like when I closed the door years ago, I just wanted that door to remain closed; there’s just no point of opening it,” he says of drawing boundaries. “I feel like sometimes we confuse closure to be this two-way street. It’s closed on my end, and that’s just how it’s going to stay.”
The Grammy-nominated star employed that spirit of conviction throughout After the Sun Goes Down, which was informed by the divas he listened to growing up.
“I wanted to make music that I like to listen to myself,” he says. “It’s like a huge ode to just the beautiful icons that come before me. Singing a melody of a Britney [Spears] song or watching a Rihanna video really charged my freedom of expression as a child. I’ve always dreamt of being this pop star. I really tapped into that little boy and gave him his shine that he always wanted.”
Adds Khalid: “This album is a celebration of being out and a representation of my queerness. My friends listen to the new music and are like, ‘Khalid, who is this guy? What is this side of you?’ It’s vulnerability, in a sense; I’m embracing my sexuality — relentlessly, fearlessly.”
For more from Khalid, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.
