Artist: Kehlani
Album: While We Wait
Genre: R&B, hip-hop
Record Label(s): Atlantic and Tsunami Mob
Recommended Tracks: Track 3- Nunya and Track 7- RPG
Kehlani is a female R&B artist that prides herself on being from the Bay Area, and more specifically Oakland as well as her strong ties to the LGBTQA+ community. She began singing and dancing both at very young ages but focused on singing after hurting her leg in middle school. In 2009 she became the lead singer of a group called Poplyfe and the group auditioned for America’s Got Talent in 2011 and finished in fourth place. Here she gained recognition in the media and was told she didn’t need a group to back up her vocals. In 2013 Nick Cannon took her under his wing after seeing her potential on the show and moved her to LA where she released her first single “ANTISUMMERLUV”. In 2014 Kehlani released her first mixtape “Cloud 9”, followed by a second mixtape called “You should be here” in 2015. Her first studio album “SweetSexySavage” was released on January 27, 2017 and remains the only album she has released to date. Her newest music release is a mixtape called “While We Wait” that came out on February 22nd featuring 9 new tracks, and 4 of those tracks having big named features. Although I may be biased for being a huge Kehlani fan I would definitely rate this mixtape a 5 because of how in her feeling and emotional she gets and how relatable and catchy other tracks are..
Nunya was the third single released on February 19th prior to the mixtape drop and features rapper Dom Kennedy. The song is about Kehlani’s jealous significant other, and her saying that what she is doing at every waking moment is anyone else’s business but her own. Nunya has catchy beats and makes you want to get up and dance. It’s a relatable R&B song about not caring about what your ex thinks they’re entitled to. She talks about people in her life who are stuck in the past and expect to stay in her life when she has clearly moved on. This song is basically telling anyone who’s no longer in her life that she has moved on and doesn’t have time for these people to be trying too come back into her life. She’s saying you would know if she wanted you back around and she isn’t making those efforts because she has moved on.
RPG featuring 6lack is a much slower song than Nunya and starts out with a soothing jazzy hip-hop sounding beat. She is singing about her insecurities and how her significant other is only doing the things they think she wants to be done. It’s about this act being put on to attempt to make a relationship healthy. The reality is that things are messed up in this relationship and she wants the person to be honest with her. The rhythm of the song is slow and fits the message of the song well using primarily drums and piano. The song is very real and I think a lot of people can relate to this feeling.
Kehlani is no stranger to releasing mixtapes, but it has been a while since a full length album. Since the release of SweetSexySavage the only releases have been singles, and fans have long awaited new music, but knew that may be on hold until she has her baby, but this album was released while she was 8 months pregnant. If you enjoy this mixtape then I’d recommend looking into the featured artists as well as people like SZA, Jhene Aiko, Jorja Smith, or Kali Uchis.
