Naughty Boy

English producer, DJ, and musician Shahid Khan, known professionally as Naughty Boy, fuses R&B with vintage U.K. breakbeat rhythms to craft a broadly appealing mainstream pop style that delivered chart successes alongside Beyoncé and Sam Smith. Born in Watford, England, to Pakistani parents, Khan committed fully to music only after leaving university and cycling through a string of unfulfilling positions. His initial high-profile contribution came via songwriting and production on Chipmunk’s 2009 U.K. Top Ten single “Diamond Rings,” a ska-inflected track that introduced a then-unknown Emeli Sandé.

The following year brought further momentum through additional work with Professor Green, Tinie Tempah, and Wiley, whose Top Ten release “Never Be Your Woman” again featured Sandé’s vocals. Khan subsequently devoted substantial time to Sandé’s debut album, Our Version of Events, which arrived as her breakthrough project in 2012. That October he issued his own single “Wonder,” on which Sandé served as lead singer and co-writer.

Mainstream visibility surged in 2013 with the Sam Smith collaboration “La La La.” The song immediately claimed the top spot on the U.K. chart, later achieving Top Five status in Australia and multiple European territories while reaching the Billboard Top 40. This momentum preceded the August launch of his Virgin debut, Hotel Cabana, a star-studded set that included Sandé, Wiz Khalifa, Bastille, Ed Sheeran, Wiley, Tinie Tempah, and additional guests; the album climbed to number two in the U.K., with a U.S. expanded edition following in May of the next year.

In 2015 Khan returned to the U.K. Top Ten via “Runnin’ (Lose It All),” which featured Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin. He continued with the Joe Jonas duet “One Chance to Dance,” the lead single from his 2018 album Bungee Jumping that also showcased Dua Lipa, Mike Posner, MNEK, and Julia Michaels. A further single, “Undo,” arrived in 2019 alongside Calum Scott and Shenseea.