Kehlani

**Kehlani** (born **Kehlani Ashley Parrish** on April 24, 1995) is an  American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Kehlani is originally from Oakland, California, where she achieved initial fame as a member of the teen group Poplyfe.

In 2014, she released her first commercial mixtape, *Cloud 19*.  The mixtape was listed as one of the *Complex* magazine's "50 Best Albums of 2014." Her second commercial mixtape, *You Should Be Here* (2015), debuted at number 5 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, preceded by her sold-out North American promotional tour. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album for *You Should Be Here*. Kehlani released her debut studio album, *SweetSexySavage*, in January 2017. She released her second studio album *It Was Good Until It Wasn't* on May 8, 2020.

## Early life

Kehlani Ashley Parrish was born and raised in Oakland, CA. She has described her ethnicity as a mix of "Black, White, Native American, Filipino, and Mexican." Her father was African-American and her mother has been described as "mostly White". She was adopted and raised by her aunt when her mother, who had a drug addiction, served time in prison. Kehlani's father, who also had a drug addiction, died when she was a toddler. During her teenage years, she attended the Oakland School for the Arts, where she initially practiced dance, particularly ballet and modern dance.

Early in her life, Kehlani aspired to train as a dancer at the Juilliard School, but she had a knee injury in junior high, which led her to turn her attention towards singing. While living with her aunt, Kehlani was exposed almost exclusively to R&B and neo soul artists, such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, whom today she describes as some of her early musical influences. She has also said that Mariah Carey is her favorite artist. When she was 14, Kehlani was recruited to join a local pop cover band, PopLyfe.

## Personal life

Kehlani has publicly identified as queer and pansexual. In 2018, she clarified her 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". In 2017, she had posted multiple posts about love for everyone regardless of gender identity, and was motivating fans to accept people's differences and beliefs. While on the SweetSexySavage World Tour, she posted pictures of her girlfriend, New Jersey artist Shaina Negrón. In April 2018, Kehlani posted on Twitter that she identified with the term queer over gay because gay "always insisted there was still a line drawn as to which 'label' of human i was attracted."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Kehlani: Bio, Height, Weight, Age, Measurements. *CelebsFacts.com*. Retrieved on May 23, 2020.
2. ↑  Kehlani at Famous Birthdays
3. ↑ Ritchie, Kevin. "Kehlani – The fast-rising singer/rapper/songwriter reveals (almost) all", July 8, 2015. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.
4. ↑ Josephs, Brian. "Happy Birthday, Kehlani!", The Boombox, April 24, 2015. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.
5. ↑ Krastz, Roger. "Kehlani on Going From Homelessness to Music Success", *XXL*, April 17, 2015. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.
6. ↑ Davis, Justin. "The 50 Best Albums of 2014 – 28. Kehlani, Cloud 19", *Complex*, December 19, 2014. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.
7. ↑ Henry, Keryce Chelsi. "Catching Up With Kehlani", *Nylon*, October 6, 2015. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.
8. ↑ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (January 27, 2017). Kehlani just wants to be happy after grappling with darkness. New album 'SweetSexySavage' leads the way.
9. ↑ About.
10. ↑ Peter Rosenberg (interviewer) (March 30, 2015). Kehlani Talks to Rosenberg about Her Rough Upbringing, The Bay, and her Tattoos!. WQHT. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.
11. ↑ Exclusive Pride Month Interview with Kehlani (en).
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Who Is Kehlani? The Oakland Singer Talks About Being On "America's Got Talent" & How Nick Cannon Saved Her Life.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Zeichner, Naomi. "Kehlani Earned This", The Fader, August 4, 2015. Retrieved on May 23, 2020.
14. ↑ About.
15. ↑ Kehlani – Biography | Billboard.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Drake, David. "Kehlani Talks About the Making of "Cloud 19," the Tutelage of Lauryn Hill, and Getting a Hand From Nick Cannon", *Complex*, December 3, 2014. Retrieved on November 30, 2015.
17. ↑ KehlaniVerified account (2018-11-20). Kehlani on Twitter: "mariah has been my favorite since i was a kid. my first lil 11 year old youtube cover is singing Hero. iâ€™m tweakkkkkin". Retrieved on 2020-04-10.
18. ↑ "Kehlani Clarifies Her Sexuality Once and for All: *I'm Queer*", E!, April 23, 2018.
19. ↑ Shaina Negrón (@toushai) • Instagram photos and videos.
20. ↑ "Kehlani Answers Questions About Her Sexuality on Twitter: 'I'm Queer'", *Billboard*.

## External links

* Kehlani Biography
* Kehlani links at FreeOnes
* Kehlani at Babepedia

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