Since his debut almost a decade ago, Khalid has continued to deliver his unique take on R&B and carving out a spot for himself in an increasingly growing field of artists. Last summer, he released his third studio album Sincere, his first full-length in five years. A few months later, Khalid was forced to be sincere about one part of his personal life after being outed, confirming his sexuality on social media.

Rather than let the incident beat him down, Khalid instead stepped further into his power as a human and as an artist. The latter is evidenced in his new album After the Sun Goes Down, out now.

Simply put, his latest project was birthed out of that stressful time in his life. “This album wouldn’t have come to be if I wasn’t outed,” the 27-year-old told People of the LP. In contrast to his previous work, on After the Sun Goes Down, Khalid himself is fully in the spotlight, shining without featured artists on nearly every track. On those past projects, he said, he crafted a more curated image that he believed would be more palatable to the general public.

“I wanted to give enough of myself where I felt like I wasn’t completely hiding, but I didn’t want to give too much where I felt exposed,” he explained. “As an artist, sometimes you do find the pressure to create yourself to be accepted by all sides.”

Being forced to share a personal side of his life with the world ended up being “a blessing in disguise,” though he was admittedly “caught off guard” at first. “I think what’s so nasty about it all is that my own story got stripped away from me,” he said honestly. “I decided I’m just going to choose to love who I am unconditionally because it’s all I got on this earth.”

The new album, then, is a reflection of the new Khalid, unafraid of hiding from public perception.

“I wanted to make music that I like to listen to myself,” Khalid said of the new project. “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.”

While Khalid has made a name for himself releasing soulful R&B, he has some more fun on more upbeat outings, showcasing those pop star desires on lead single “In Plain Sight” and tracks like “Whenever You’re Gone” and “Nobody (Make Me Feel)” with Oskar Med K. Still, his yearning is also on full display on downtempo offerings like “Yes No Maybe,” “True,” and “Momentary Lovers.”

Khalid is slated to perform with support from Lauv at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Oct. 11.