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Top 25 Interviews of 2014: No. 25 Naughty Boy

Naughty Boy may have been my most challenging and most rewarding interview yet. I wasn’t too familiar with his music before I sat down with him as he had yet released his debut album, Hotel Cabana, in the states. His single, “La La La” which featured Sam Smith, was slowly getting more airplay and by the end of the summer it’s all I remember hearing being played on the radio.

Like every interview, I went into it as researched as I could be and it wound up being such an inspiring chat. His rags to riches story was so genuine. At the end, things seemingly went well as he told me when he left talking to me was like therapy. For a girl who only minored in Psychology in college that was the nicest compliment I could get! An excerpt of my interview is below.

When talking with Naughty Boy the words “fate” and “destiny” come up a lot. As they should. The former pizza delivery guy and hotel waiter started his music career thanks to a big win on the game show Deal or No Deal.

“I was in a bit of an all-time low,” he told me. “I never won anything so to go on a game show for the first time, the first time I ever applied for a game show, and to win gave me confidence.”

Before his Deal or No Deal win, Naughty Boy (real name Shahid Khan) was broke and struggling to keep his head above water. “My parents wanted me to take my life seriously,” he said. Khan was at first concerned that his appearance on a game show would ruin any chances of people taking him seriously, but he now believes his good fortune can be a lesson to others.

“Whatever I’m doing right now,” he said, “I believe anyone can do this if they put their mind and heart into it.”

“[Music] is the one thing that I don’t feel like I’ve ever worked a day and that’s what you ultimately want for your job,” he added. “I’m doing what I love.”

Read my complete interview at Radio.com.