Naughty Boy

Emeli Sandé frequently writes with Naughty Boy.

The producer burst on to the music scene in 2009, by co-writing and producing Chipmunk's hit single "Diamond Rings", featuring Emeli Sandé.[5] Shahid Khan would once again work with Sandé, this time on Wiley's "Never Be Your Woman" (2010), a cover of White Town's "Your Woman" (1997).[5] Sandé later earned a record deal with Virgin Records, with Shahid Khan co-writing and producing her debut album, Our Version of Events. Naughty Boy was formally introduced and credited as an artist on Sandé's second single "Daddy", though he doesn't actually perform on the track.

Shahid Khan has also worked with Alesha Dixon, JLS, Lily Allen, Alexandra Burke and Jennifer Hudson.[5][6] He also produced records for Professor Green, Cheryl Cole and Tinie Tempah.[7] Shahid Khan worked with Sandé to produce and co-write Leona Lewis' 2012 comeback single "Trouble" which features Childish Gambino.[8] Shahid Khan also wrote and produced "When It Hurts" and "Mountains" for Lewis' album Glassheart; However, "Mountains" was re-recorded by Sandé and put on her own album Our Version of Events.[9] He also worked on records for Rihanna including "Half of Me" (co-produced with Stargate),[10] "Side Effects of You" for Fantasia Barrino[11] and co-produced "Craziest Things" with will.i.am for Cheryl Cole.[12]

Shahid Khan also spent time, throughout the development of his career, working on his own debut album titled Hotel Cabana, which was scheduled to be released under his moniker "Naughty Boy" by Virgin EMI Records in 2013.[7] The album's first single "Wonder" features frequent collaborator Sandé on the lead vocals.[13] It was released on 30 September 2012 and also was the leading single from the re-release of Sandé's debut album, Our Version of Events, after already appearing on the US version of the album.[14] It peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart.[15]

British singer Gabrielle also worked with Naughty Boy for Hotel Cabana on a song called "Hollywood", which was initially tipped to be the album's second single, with the album following in February 2013.[16][17] Gabrielle also revealed that fellow British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and British rapper Tinie Tempah will also feature on Hotel Cabana.[16] Both Tempah and Sheeran have worked with Naughty Boy on previous records. It is the album's title song, "Hotel Cabana" which features Tempah.[18] A trailer for Hotel Cabana was premiered on Naughty Boy's Vevo account on 20 September 2012. It states Hotel Cabana is "directed by Naughty Boy, starring Emeli Sandé, Tinie Tempah, Professor Green, Gabrielle and George the Poet".[19] Of the album, Shahid Khan's opinion of it was "It has a concept to it, so it's more like a film in some respects", claiming "I'm not just a producer – I'm a director too".[20] However, it did not happen until May 2013, that the second single "La La La" featuring Sam Smith was released. It reached number one in the UK,[21] three in Ireland[22] and three in Scotland.[23] The album was released on 26 August 2013.[24] It peaked at number two in the UK.

After completing work on his own album, in 2013, Shahid Khan resumed production for other artists. He worked on pop records for American singer Britney Spears, as well as joining Spears' sessions with producer William Orbit.[25] British singer Lily Allen also asked Shahid Khan to produce records for her upcoming album.[26] Additionally, he teamed up with Sandé and Katy Perry in New York to work on a song for Perry's then upcoming album, Prism (2013).[27]

In March 2015, it was confirmed that Naughty Boy had worked with then-One Direction member Zayn Malik for one of the tracks of his second album.[28] Malik exited the band shortly after this announcement, which led to many One Direction fans blaming Naughty Boy for Malik's departure.[29]

On 16 September 2015, Naughty Boy announced that he would release a song titled "Runnin' (Lose It All)" featuring Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin. On the same date, he shared the artwork for the single, its lyrics, a 15-second sound snippet along with a video through his Instagram account and began a countdown until its online release.[30][31] The following day, on 17 September 2015, "Runnin' (Lose It All)" premiered online. It was available for digital download on the iTunes Store on 18 September 2015.[32] "Should've Been Me", featuring vocals from Kyla and Popcaan was released as the second single on 18 November 2016. The song has peaked at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart. "One Chance to Dance", featuring vocals from Joe Jonas was released as the third single on 20 October 2017.

On 13 September 2017, Naughty Boy released a reworked edition of the Jackson 5's song "Dancing Machine" featuring vocals from Laura Mvula under the name of "Naughty Town", from an upcoming Motown covers album.[33] According The Evening Standard, Naughty Boy has also collaborated with Justin Timberlake and Dua Lipa on the album.[34] In December 2017, Naughty Boy along with Wyclef Jean appeared on the final of the fourteenth series of The X Factor, guest performing "Dimelo" with contestants Rak-Su, his fellow Watford natives. Rak-Su won and the performance was released as the winner's single.[35]

In January 2018, Naughty Boy announced his second album had experienced some delays due to legal issues; he wanted to call the album Now That's What I Call Naughty, but was legally challenged over its similarity to the Now That's What I Call Music! compilation album series.[36] Describing the album as a playlist, he said "with my new album I wanted to make a real sick playlist that anyone and everyone can listen to."[37] At the time of writing, he had completed studio sessions with Dua Lipa, Mike Posner, MNEK, Ray BLK, Joe Jonas, WizKid, Bebe Rexha, Paloma Faith, Tom Walker, Miguel, Calum Scott, Shenseea, Popcaan, Kyla, Ray BLK, Wyclef Jean, Craig David and Julia Michaels but refused to confirm which were for his own album.[36][38]

On 18 April 2018, he released his collaboration with artist Ray BLK and Wyclef Jean titled "All or Nothing".[39] On 7 December 2018, "Bungee Jumping" was released featuring vocals from Emeli Sandé and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. On 22 March 2019, "Undo" was released featuring Calum Scott and Jamaican dancehall artist Shenseea.[40] At the time of writing (April 2019) Naughty Boy's second studio album was set for release in Autumn 2019.[38] From 9–15 December, Naughty Boy appeared was part of the 'industry' panel for The X Factor spin off series, The X Factor: The Band, launched to try and find the UK's next biggest band.[41]

• ^{^[A]} Although Hotel Cabana did not chart on the Australian Albums Chart, it did reach number 30 on the Digital Albums Chart.[43]
• ^{^[B]} "Never Be Your Woman" was released as a standalone single in 2010, an alternative version dubbed "Never Be Your Woman (Bonus Track)" features on the album, Hotel Cabana.