Nader Khalil travels in time in new single BLUE SKY featuring Nok From The Future
August 14th, 2025
The artist announces new album NK3 out October 17th, his most personal and uncompromising work to date
It features several collaborations, crossing musical genres and showcasing an unwavering pursuit of authenticity
LISTEN TO BLUE SKY (feat. Nok From the Future) NOW
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The Egyptian-Iranian artist Nader Khalil has announced his third self-produced album entitled Nader Khalil 3 (NK3) that will be out October 17th. The artist has also presented the first single that opens a new era for him, Blue Sky, with a very special feature: Nok From The Future, his past project. Nok was a pioneer in the early days of the cloud rap world, collaborating with artists such as Dylan Brady (100 Gecs), Kevin Abstract (Brockhampton), Night Lovell, and Cousin Stizz, among others.
Including Nok’s signature ethereal vocals floating atop a cloud rap jerk beat and Sahrawi-rock-inspired guitar. The song channels the feeling and sound of Nok’s brand of cloud rap from 2014, returning to where Nader began his music journey. The song is a chronological experience that acknowledges both his past and present musical momentum in the form of an eagle-eyed view of his evolution. It has been almost nine years since Nok’s last release; Blue Sky is a shock to many who never expected Nok to release new music ever again.
The accompanying video takes place in the lush and quaint New England coastline, evoking the visual language and aesthetic that defined Nok's viral videos during his cloud rap era. The sunset backdrop enhances the song's dreamy quality.
This is the first taste of so much more to come from Nader since the release of Wil3a a year ago. NK3 is the result of a thoughtful time in which the main goal for Khalil has been pursuing authenticity in his most uncompromising work to date. His first two albums Nader Khalil 1 and Nader Khalil 2 (2022) are available on the main streaming platforms and include some of his most popular songs: War & Peace, Can’t Decide, Wahda Wahda, Dark Mawwal and Wild Trance. His debut singles Crud (2019) and 98 (2021) have more than 1 million plays on Spotify.
NK3: Expanding the soundscape of resistance
Nader Khalil 3 (NK3) marks the artist’s most expansive and refined work to date: a trilingual album adding new dimension to his sound and vision. Unlike his previous EPs, NK3 is not a solo effort; it features underground American rap legend BONES, Syrian vocalist Samah Abdulhamid, French artist Ta-Ra, Moroccan rapper LMehdi, Ethiopian-American artist Robel Ketema, and even a reunion with his earlier identity, Nok From the Future.
Guided by a musical Occam’s Razor, NK3 embraces lyrics that are sparse yet essential, allowing the music itself to carry the weight of its message. Nader trusts sound—custom Arabic wedding keyboard synths, Arabic scales, stripped-down percussion—to communicate what language often complicates, balancing tension with restraint. The album revisits his hallmark raw vocal delivery and political undercurrents with a newfound refinement and intention, marking his growth as both a producer and artist.
In this project, the mixing is integral to Nader’s artistic vision, holding equal importance to the production and vocals. Nader meticulously sculpts every syllable of the vocals and every flicker of the synth notes to evoke a precise auditory response in the listener.
If NK1 and NK2 were about defining the edges of his sound, NK3 is about refining the core. It strips everything back to instinct, intention, and impact, confirming what many already know: that he is one of the most singular and unflinching voices in underground music today. NK3 reflects the different moments along the path of resistance—not just protest, but the quiet, interior moments that make it possible: endurance, doubt, stubbornness, patience.
Nader Khalil
Nader Khalil is an Egyptian-Iranian artist whose sound is a tightly constructed blend of custom-built Arabic synths and haunting, husky vocals. He is a fully self-reliant artist: he records his own vocals, produces every track himself, and handles the mixing and mastering in-house. Hypnotic, propulsive, and unflinchingly direct, his music reflects an uncompromising voice shaped by life across the U.S., the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.
At the heart of his music is a commitment to the straight path: an unwavering pursuit of authenticity, even when it demands resistance. His music doesn’t posture or conceal; it speaks plainly with precision, potency, and purpose. In an era of branding and irony, Nader stands apart, letting the truth cut clean through the noise.
His career began under the alias Nok from the Future, a SoundCloud-era project between 2013 and 2017 that has amassed more than 50 million streams. Nok’s collaborators have included artists such as Dylan Brady (100 Gecs), Kevin Abstract (Brockhampton), Cousin Stizz, and Night Lovell. Though that chapter ended without formal closure, its community still lives on—20k monthly listeners on Spotify and a digital footprint that refuses to fade. In 2019, Nader re-emerged under his own name, claiming full authorship over his identity with a sound that was sharper, harder, and more urgent.
His 2022 debut EP, Nader Khalil 1, introduced a focused chaos: six explosive tracks built on rage-infused beats and untamed vocals. With Nader Khalil 2, he delivered a deeper, more expansive seven-track project that moved with intention and precision. Tracks like “War & Peace,” “Wahda Wahda,” “Dark Mawwal,” and “No Reason” challenged narratives that had long excluded Middle Eastern voices from Western music spaces.
Nader’s visual world mirrors his sound: raw and self-contained. Shot, directed, and edited entirely in-house (usually on an iPhone), his videos capture moments as they are, stripped of pretense or staging.
His live performances are equally potent: dance floors move between dabke circles and mosh pits, driven by a presence that feels both grounded and electrified. Audiences unfamiliar with his music often leave his sets as fans who are won over by the force and honesty of what they have just witnessed.
With Nader Khalil 3, he returns with his most personal and uncompromising work to date.
Press for Nader Khalil.