Kehlani

Kehlani Ashley Parrish (/kəˈlɑːni, keɪˈlɑːni/ kə-LAH-nee, kay-LAH-nee; born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. They are originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen pop group PopLyfe in 2011.
Kehlani's debut mixtape, Cloud 19 (2014), was listed as one of Complex's "50 Best Albums of 2014." Its follow-up, You Should Be Here (2015) entered the Billboard 200, received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. Kehlani signed with Atlantic Records to release their debut studio album, SweetSexySavage (2017), which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, while their second, It Was Good Until It Wasn't (2020) peaked at number two. Their third album, Blue Water Road (2022) peaked at number 13 on the chart and was met with critical acclaim, while their fourth, Crash (2024), peaked at number 25.
Kehlani Ashley Parrish was born on April 24, 1995, in Oakland, California. They were adopted and raised by their aunt when their mother, who had a drug addiction, served time in jail. Kehlani's father, who also had a drug addiction, died when they were a toddler. During their teenage years, they attended the Oakland School for the Arts, where they initially practiced dance, particularly ballet and modern dance.
Early in their life, Kehlani aspired to train as a dancer at the Juilliard School, but they had a knee injury in junior high, which led them to turn their attention towards singing. While living with their aunt, Kehlani was exposed almost exclusively to R&B and neo soul artists, such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, whom today they describe as some of their early musical influences. When they were 14, Kehlani was recruited to join a local pop cover band, PopLyfe.
Kehlani's singing career effectively began when they started out as a member and lead vocalist for the group called PopLyfe. The band's music was produced by former Tony! Toni! Tone! member D'Wayne Wiggins. Within two years, the group performed throughout the Bay Area and other cities. In 2011, they auditioned for the sixth season of America's Got Talent, and eventually finished in fourth place. During their final appearance, judge Piers Morgan told Kehlani, "You've got real talent, but I don't think you need the group."
After the end of America's Got Talent, Kehlani left PopLyfe, because of several managerial and contractual disputes. Over six months, they avoided doing anything music related to avoid being sued by the group's management. In 2012 and 2013, Kehlani was effectively homeless, moving from house to house and often sleeping on couches. During their senior year of high school, they moved to Los Angeles, California, with no legal guardian. In 2013, Nick Cannon, who had been the host of America's Got Talent during PopLyfe's run, called Kehlani to ask about being in a rap group. They agreed at first and went to Los Angeles, but, ultimately didn't like the direction of the group and moved back to Oakland. To help with money and food, they decided to begin stealing iPhones to sell, and items from grocery stores for a short time. Months later, Kehlani released their first solo track on SoundCloud, called "ANTISUMMERLUV". Cannon called back after hearing the song and he bought them an apartment in LA, along with studio time.
In 2014, the studio time culminated in the release of their first mixtape, called Cloud 19. The mixtape features guest appearances from Kyle Dion. Cannon also sent them to New York City to work with record producer Jahaan Sweet. The mixtape ranked at twenty-eighth on Complex's list of the "50 Best Albums of 2014," and was also listed among Pitchfork's "Overlooked Mixtapes 2014." A song they released in late 2014, "Till the Morning" was placed by Billboard as one of the "Emerging Picks of the Week" on November 7, 2014. In 2015, Kehlani opened for American rapper G-Eazy on the second leg of his From the Bay to the Universe tour.
On April 28, 2015, they released their second mixtape You Should Be Here. Billboard called it the "year's first great R&B album", when it debuted at number five on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The project features guest appearances from fellow American rapper Chance the Rapper and American singer BJ the Chicago Kid. A week after the release, they announced that they had signed a deal to Atlantic Records. In support of the mixtape, they embarked on the You Should Be Here tour, which sold out every North American date and select European dates. Throughout 2015, they also received individual plaudits: Complex called them one of the "15 Artists to Watch Out for in 2015" and Rolling Stone named them one of the "10 New Artists You Need to Know". You Should Be Here also earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album. In March 2016, Kehlani guest featured on English singer Zayn's single "Wrong" from his debut solo studio album Mind of Mine. Their song "Gangsta" was featured on the soundtrack for the August 2016 hit movie Suicide Squad, which gave them and their music some beneficial recognition, as it reached number 41 on the Hot 100.
On November 26, 2016, Kehlani revealed the title of their debut studio album SweetSexySavage, which was released on Atlantic Records on January 27, 2017. In December 2017, Kehlani guest featured on American rapper Eminem's single "Nowhere Fast" from his ninth studio album Revival. Kehlani's third annual Tsunami Christmas tour concluded in Santa Ana, California on December 18, 2017.
Kehlani served as an opening act on American singer Demi Lovato's Tell Me You Love Me World Tour in North America, which started on February 26, 2018, and concluded on April 2. They then opened on American singer Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom World Tour on the Oceania leg during April 2018. In March 2018, Kehlani guest featured on American singer Charlie Puth's single "Done for Me" from his second studio album, Voicenotes. In April 2018, they guest featured on American rapper Cardi B's single "Ring" from her debut studio album, Invasion of Privacy. The song peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Kehlani's first song to enter the top 40 of the chart.
On February 22, 2019, their third commercial mixtape While We Wait was released by Atlantic Records and debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 and sold 34,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It was supported by the singles "Nights Like This" featuring Ty Dolla Sign, "Nunya" featuring Dom Kennedy, and "Butterfly".
On September 27, 2019, Kehlani and Russian-German DJ Zedd released the collaborative single "Good Thing." Kehlani and American singer Teyana Taylor's then released the single "Morning" in November of that year.
On January 28, 2020, Kehlani guest featured on singer Justin Bieber's promotional single "Get Me" from his fifth studio album, Changes. They were also set to be a supporting act alongside American rapper and singer Jaden Smith for Bieber's Changes Tour, which was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour was pushed back to 2022 and renamed the Justice World Tour to support both Changes and its successor, Bieber's sixth studio album, Justice (2021), although Kehlani was dropped as an opening act. Kehlani released their second studio album, It Was Good Until It Wasn't on May 8, 2020. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, based on 83,000 album-equivalent units earned (including 25,000 copies of pure album sales).
In September 2020, Kehlani recorded songs for the deluxe version of It Was Good Until It Wasn't. However, after the session they decided that the songs would fit better on a separate project, and began working on their third studio album, Blue Water Road. On September 14, 2021, Kehlani revealed the teaser for Blue Water Road, and announced that the album will be released later that year. The album's lead single "Altar" was released on September 15. The second single, "Little Story", was released on February 24, 2022. On March 30, Kehlani released "Up at Night", featuring Justin Bieber, as the third single from the album, while the album was confirmed for an April 29 release.
To support the album, Kehlani embarked on the Blue Water Road Trip tour in the US and Europe from July to December 2022. The tour had opening acts Rico Nasty and Destin Conrad. In 2023, Kehlani was the headliner for concert performances at the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game and the 2023 MLS All-Star Game.
On April 4, 2024, Kehlani released the lead single "After Hours" ahead of their next album. Kehlani affirmed their support for Palestine, expressing their stance in their music video "Next 2 U". The video, which premiered on May 31, 2024, began with a poem by Palestinian-American writer Hala Alyan and the demonstration chant "Long Live the Intifada", an allusion to the 1987 uprising against Israel's presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the music video's outro, Kehlani vocalized a personally penned message dedicated to the children in Palestine who perished in the Israel–Hamas war.
Kehlani's fourth album, Crash, was released on June 21, 2024, and featured collaborations with Jill Scott, Omah Lay and Young Miko.
Her fourth mixtape, While We Wait 2, was released on August 28, 2024. It included 14 songs with features from Lucky Daye, kwn, Vince Staples, FLO, Destin Conrad, Lil’ Mo, and DIXSON. Kehlani states that the album only took two weeks to record and was done all at home. The cover art nods to the original While We Wait album cover, featuring her staring at herself in the mirror with a floral wallpaper in the background.
She also recently collaborated with Glorilla on a Christmas-themed trap song, providing a bold twist on holiday cheer.
In January 2016, it was confirmed that Kehlani was in a relationship with star NBA point guard Kyrie Irving. In March 2016, Canadian singer PartyNextDoor posted a picture of Kehlani's hand on Instagram, insinuating that they were in bed together. This caused a media controversy across Twitter, in which abuse was tweeted against Kehlani in hundreds of thousands of posts. Kehlani attempted suicide shortly thereafter. Irving later stated on Twitter that they had broken up before the incident. Kehlani took to social media to explain that they did not cheat on Irving in a public statement to acknowledge their attempted suicide in the wake of the media attention. In 2018, Irving penned an apology to Kehlani via an Instagram post, expressing appreciation towards the singer, and they responded wishing him well.
On September 6, 2019, it was confirmed that Kehlani was dating American rapper YG, but after three months of dating, Kehlani and YG broke up. However, the two released a collaborative single for Valentine's Day, "Konclusions", on February 14, 2020. In May 2020, during an interview with The Breakfast Club, Kehlani said that they discovered that YG was cheating on them after seeing his phone. YG apologized by filling their lawn with roses. Kehlani added that they do not speak, but remain cordial.
Kehlani announced that they were pregnant with their first child, a girl, on Instagram on October 12, 2018, with the father being Javaughn Young-White, who plays guitar for Kehlani. They opened up in December 2018 about prenatal depression and how their pregnancy is harder than it might look. On March 23, 2019, Kehlani gave birth to a daughter at home. Kehlani is a vegan. They have spoken about their past experiences being a survivor of sexual assault and rape.
Between her second and third studio albums, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t and Blue Water Road, she stated she went through a spiritual detox in order to get out of a toxic cycle with herself. After her breakup with YG and near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she stripped herself down emotionally and began writing Blue Water Road to process this change. In the summer of 2020, Kehlani bought a small farm in Simi Valley, California, where they live with their daughter. They were in a relationship with the 070 collective member, Danielle Balbuena, better known as 070 Shake. In 2020, Kehlani started practicing the African diasporic religion La Regla de Ocha.
Kehlani expressed solidarity with Palestine during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. In Instagram posts, they voiced disapproval for celebrities who have chosen to remain silent on the matter, implying that they prioritize their personal business endeavors over addressing a pressing humanitarian crisis. They were a principal signer of the October 2023 open letter, Artists Against Apartheid. In November 2023, Kehlani signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire and an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. On May 27, 2024, Kehlani voiced their criticism on Instagram, this time directed at specifically fellow musicians for remaining silent about the Gaza–Israel conflict in Palestine. She solidifies her support for Gaza in her “Next 2 U” music video, which opens up with a poem by a Palestinian American writer and has a Palestinian flag in the background of the entire video.
Kehlani stated that she struggled with her mental health whilst trying to keep up with the war in Gaza and witnessing a genocide. Even with this, she stands firmly in her support for Palestine and encourages others to join in as well.
In April 2018, they spoke about their sexuality on Twitter, stating, "I'm queer. Not bi, not straight. I'm attracted to women, men, REALLY attracted to queer men, non-binary people, intersex people, trans people. lil poly pansexual". After that, during a live stream in early 2021, Kehlani announced that they identify as a lesbian, after having publicly identified as queer and pansexual in the past. They prefer polyamorous relationships. They have stated that it is important for them to include female pronouns in their music.
In an April 2019 interview with Diva magazine, Kehlani stated they are "definitely on the non-binary scale" despite preferring "she" pronouns. In December 2020, Kehlani updated their pronouns on Twitter to "she/they". In an interview with Byrdie Magazine in 2021, they stated their preference for "they" over "she", because "something feels really affirming when people say they", and that "it feels like you really see me".
Kehlani got their first tattoo when they were 16. Some of their tattoos include Coraline, Regina "Reggie" Rocket, Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega dancing, Lauryn Hill, Frida Kahlo, a sleeve of roses, a sunflower, and face tattoos of a paper plane and four dots.
In an interview with Power 106, Kehlani discusses their attempted suicide was due to the negative media response as well as their first major heartbreak. They state that their album was therapeutic through their difficult time. During their recovery, they got a tattoo that says "perdida y encontrada" which in English translates to "lost and found".
On their travels to Australia during August 2017, Kehlani received a "Kirituhi", a Māori tattoo from a New Zealand artist, whom they flew from New Zealand to Sydney, Australia to complete. On Kehlani's Instagram post, they captioned the photo: "[T]he piece representing my whānau/family, 6 koru representing my 4 siblings here on earth and the 2 that have transferred into the next life. 2 mangopare/hammerhead sharks representing guidance and strength through adversity and tribulation."
On January 5, 2018, Kehlani posted a photo to Instagram showing that their hand tattoo of the word "woke" had been covered up with a lotus flower; they stated that they felt that their "hand would speak for [them] before [they] even got a chance to open [their] mouth".
In tandem with the release of their single "Next 2 U" in 2024, they unveiled merchandise created by Palestinian, Nöl Collective creative director and founder, Yasmeen Mjalli. The entirety of the proceeds from the sales of the merchandise went towards aiding Palestinian, Congolese and Sudanese families, in collaboration with Operation Olive Branch.