Uber ad features Khalid, El Paso

Khalid and El Paso, the city he’s adopted as his hometown, were featured in 30-second and one-and-a-half-minute ads for Uber that aired during the Grammy Awards Sunday night.

In the ads, Khalid, a graduate of Americas High School on the far east side of town, is in the back seat of a car driven by Opie, an aspiring artist.

The pair talk about Khalid’s life and what helped propel him to the top of the music industry in a matter of months since the release of his full-length LP, “American Teen.”

The 30-second ad focuses on Khalid’s relationship with the Sun City, which he told Opie he loves.

“The moment I moved there, I gained a best friend,” Khalid said. “Me moving to El Paso is where my life changed because I met so many amazing people. Even though I wasn’t from there, they accepted me as if I was.”

Khalid credits the people and the love he felt with prompting him to write and make music. His mother, interviewed separately in the longer ad, agreed with her son.

“When he got here, they just put their arms around him,” Linda Wolfe said, adding, “The love here is unconditional. They’re going on this ride with him because this is El Paso’s son.”

See that ad here:

Khalid likely gained a fan for life when he invited Opie into the recording studio with him at the end of his ride.

See that ad here: