On April 29, songstress Kehlani, released her studio album, blue water road. A couple of weeks before its arrival, the 27-year-old singer revealed the cover art for the project along with the tracklist, which included some notable artists in the industry. The album, consisting of 13 songs, featured musicians like Justin Bieber, Syd, and Jessie Reyez.
Wanting to promote her newest body of work, Kehlani sat down with Apple Music to discuss how she’s grown as an artist, talk about her writing process, speak on her journey through motherhood, and tell of the inspiration behind her latest release.
When asked what was the reasoning behind her album title, the Oakland California native revealed that she started creating the project while at a house located on Blue Water Road. “It was an Airbnb that we got for a recording trip that was supposed to be for the deluxe of my last album.” She went on to explain that during that period of time, she went to a few religious ceremonies which caused her to stray away from her last project.
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She stated, “Mentally, I was super far away from my last album in general. And a couple songs resonated with something… we didn’t want to lose that, but we also knew we couldn’t just keep renting out this person’s house down the street. So we found a studio, luckily, really close, and it still felt the exact same as the house down the street, so we just stayed here and made the whole album here.”
The interviewer, whose name is Nadeska Alexis, took the mother of one down memory lane when she asked her if she remembered the first recording studios she’d ever worked in. Smiling, she answered, “Yeah, Nick Cannon’s studio on Ventura… I was crashing on the couch and recording in the studio.” She also added, “The original Atlantic Records building on Cahuenga. I was there every single day.”
Watch the full interview below.