At The LP Cafe we like to celebrate local music past, present and future.  The musical heritage of Watford has infected the lives of a disproportionate amount of people for its size and is something that we are proud of.  So many names have come from Watford, whether they were born and raised in our town, formed a band in our town, or briefly passed through but left their mark. 

Our third installment of the Watford’s Music Legends recognizes one of Britain's most invincible producers at the moment, Naughty Boy.

Shahid Khan, Naughty Boy, is quickly gaining pace on some of our well known Watford Music Legends - and he’s only 29!  Naughty Boy is a true Watford Boy having grown up in West Watford and still living in his family home.  He spent a term at university in London but it wasn’t his thing so he returned to Watford to work a number of jobs, including at our now debunked neighbours Domino’s.  Music had always been his thing and he wanted to pursue it as a career, despite it not fitting with the career path his parents had in mind for him.  However, a childhood on cassette recorders had him fixed and he made his parent’s shed into a makeshift studio and began working. 

Shahid received a Prince’s Trust grant and won a £44,000 windfall from Deal Or No Deal, which he used to better equip himself and the studio. 

His first serious acclaim came after producing Emeli Sandé’s debut album, Our Version of Events.  Since then, Naughty Boy has taken off into the international stratosphere of urban music, working with a host of names which is quite incredible.  Naughty Boy’s name accompanies the likes of Rihanna, Lily Allen Britney Spears, and Katy Perry.

He has won two Ivor Novello Awards, two MOBO awards, he has been nominated for a Brit Award and “Side Effects of You’ by Fantasia, for which he was a producer, has been nominated for a Grammy.

This guy is on a roll and definitely one to keep your eye on as one of Watford’s most prolific Music Legends.   Who’d have thought it, from a shed in West Watford to working with some of the biggest names in international popular and urban music.  He has certainly earned his stripes, up there with our established Watford Music Legends.

Many thanks to our friends and supporters at www.watfordmuseum.org.uk for their help researching Watford's Music Legends.