These ladies are trailblazing throughout the industry, following their own rules. Today we’re highlighting their history in the making. Kehlani Shows Off New Boo in Music Video After the successful release of her xx album “Blue Water Road, Kehlani continues to grace fans with visuals from the album. Her most recent video to her new […]
Last month, Kehlani released their third album, Blue Water Road, marking their first album put out since coming out to the world as Queer. The singer had teased the fact that Blue Water Road was, “…vastly different than anything I’ve ever created.” And while there’s a new sense of confidence in these passionate tunes, to long-time fans, it’s still that same sultry vocalist from hits like “Gangsta” and “Nights Like This.”
With the new video for “Melt,” we get the first intimate look at Kehlani’s relationship with their new partner, rapper 070 Shake. In the clip, the pair are in Brazil, sitting at an idyllic outdoor café at opposite tables. They each swig their cachaça at the same time and then meet up in a jungle abode to romance each other.
Speaking on the track itself, Kehlani said in a statement, “It’s about the feeling of laying up with someone, cuddling, or even being sexually intimate, and you want to fall in their skin.” And lyrics like “I can’t tell where your hair ends and mine begins,” and, “Across the bed feels way too far,” really raise the stakes for a pure depiction of their intimacy in the beautifully shot clip that also captures the essence of the pace of life in Brazilian so well.
Watch the video for “Melt” above.
Blue Water Road is out now via Atlantic. Get it here.
Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Kehlani just recently released their new album Blue Water Road, the follow-up to the 2020 LP It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. Though the album conveys a chapter of serenity and happiness for Kehlani, the promotion cycle was quite the opposite with uncomfortable interviews leading to their decision to no longer do interviews anymore.
The “Nights Like This” singer, though, has just announced that they will be heading out on the road this summer to promote the album, starting in Raleigh, North Carolina at the end of July and closing in Honolulu, Hawaii in October. Check out the full dates below, which all feature Rico Nasty and Destin Conrad as openers.
07/30 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
08/01 – Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater
08/03 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
08/05 – Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/07 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
08/09 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
08/12 – Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion
08/13 – Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
08/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage @ The Mann Center
08/16 – Pittsburgh, PA @ UPMC Events Center
08/17 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
08/19 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
08/22 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
08/24 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage!
08/26 – Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
08/28 – Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
08/30 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
09/01 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater
09/03 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
09/06 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
09/09 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea @ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
09/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
09/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre
09/15 – San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
09/17 – Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds @ Moda Center
09/18 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
09/21 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum!
09/30 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
10/21 – Honolulu, HI @ Waikiki Shell
Over the past few months — perhaps even years, really — there has been a disturbing trend of ostensible music journalists outright disrespecting interview subjects for content. These podcast and radio hosts have crossed boundaries, making artists — especially women or femme-presenting ones — visibly uncomfortable during interviews. Fortunately, with social media, those artists have the capacity to stand up for themselves, which is what Kehlani did when Morning Hustle Show hosts Lore’l and Headkrack misgendered and insulted them during an interview they called “cringy and invasive.”
While on their press tour to promote their new album, Blue Water Road, Kehlani appeared on the show but became visibly agitated after the hosts seemed to mock their pronouns, folding their arms and offering short, clipped responses to questions like whether they were “scissoring with SZA.” Afterward, Kehlani responded to the interview on Instagram, writing, “This is why your favorite artists always stop doing interviews or people don’t want to speak anymore. I’m only speaking to [a] select few folks anymore who really care about me deeply and have always been in my corner.”
In a video on social media, the host called out Kehlani for being “rude” and not having respect for urban media. “You feel like you don’t have to come to platforms like this and do interviews because you have Cosmopolitan and MTV and Vanity Fair that will feature you,” Lore’l said — accurately, I might add. “Good luck with your album, I heard it only sold 21K copies,” she added, spitefully. No artist is obligated to give any platform an interview, even if they are ostensibly “for the culture” — especially if they can’t be bothered to treat their interviewees with the bare minimum of human dignity.
Kehlani shot back on Instagram, pointing out, “I have kept it calm, collected, mature in the face of blatant disrespect when I could’ve went off. I finished interviews strong while being poked and prodded at. I JOYFULLY met thousands and thousands of fans this week, joyfully did many interviews very much available on youtube. if you know me you know I’m HIGH BRIGHT ENERGY until F*CKED WITH! stretching this situation for clout when it’s evident i was energetically RESPONDING to what was being thrown at me, and still at it was quiet, short & protective of my energy. y’all need this tho i get it.”
Lore’l violates Kehlani for her cringey interview on the Morning Hustle Show. “Good luck with your album, I heard it only sold 21K copies.” pic.twitter.com/ImcPKMlJFV
For what it’s worth, there has been an ongoing discussion about artists in Black music foregoing Black outlets when it comes time to promote their work, preferring outsider outlets like those mentioned above for glowing profiles and uncritical reviews. However, it’s also understandable; artists are people too and are entitled to their legitimate feelings. No one wants to feel disrespected by invasive questions or mocked for their missteps. Obviously, there’s a balance to be found in which outlets can ask intimate questions in a much more empathetic way. Plenty of folks on Twitter seem to agree, as you can see below.
See, there’s an actual music journalist out there that would have LIVED for a chance to interview Kehlani. But instead it was you. Sorry to that journalist. Sorry to Kehlani. These two took up space they ain’t have any business being in. Get a new job. https://t.co/UkzXjvYT8b
You have no right to talk about professionalism, if all you can do is ask sexual questions and insult your guest to the point of making them physically uncomfortable & shut down. Its clear this Lore’l woman is the one who needs additional training. Kehlani did not deserve that. pic.twitter.com/9VmaQDhAH8
How she need media training when you as the interviewer created an uncomfortable space for her? She literally asked all these invasive questions that had NOTHING TO DO WITH HER MUSIC!
— The Icarus Complex. 🫠 (@icarus_belle) May 10, 2022
i hate women like her bruh! you didn’t ask her if she was smashing nor fucking… you asked if she was scissoring sza? like how many straight male artist have you asked “are you giving this artist backshots?” like go to hell bro https://t.co/6LxtHr3gLe
May is Mental Health Awareness month and artist Kehlani is using her platform to explain why she is planning on anymore interviews, citing protecting her mental health.
The announcement came late last week after the Morning Hustle’s interview with Kehlani was released with much speculation that the artist “did not want to be there.” Kehlani was doing the interview as part of her promotional tour for her new album, Blue Water Road. (The full interview can be seen here for complete context).
Fans were divided, with many feeling like Kehlani was uncooperative with other criticizing the show’s hosts for the way that they addressed the artist’s pronouns. (Kehlani’s official Instagram account says “she/they.”)
Following the interview, Kehlani wrote on Instagram Live: “No more interviews,”“support the music or don’t Im done,” “all I care about is my fans,” “only people I care about serving is the fans,” and “i’m here for y’all and that’s it.”
She followed up by criticizing fans who shared clips out of context and encouraged her followers to check out all of the other great stuff she had been up to recently.
On Sunday, Kehlani, who is a mother of one, celebrated Mother’s Day by sharing a photo of her daughter in a celebratory post and also posting a quote by Alex Elle on Instagram Live, which she titled “a note for manifesting generators” that read: “I’ve started to learn that everyone isn’t going to be happy with me for changing and choosing myself. it is not my job to please anyone. I have one life to live…am allowed to create a joyful life for myself even if outsiders do not understand.”
Blue Water Road is Kehlani’s third full-length studio release and features guest appearances from Ambré, Justin Bieber, Blxst, Jessie Reyez, Syd, and Thundercat.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Kehlani’s sophomore album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, focused on absorbing the destruction that failures in love and life caused against her while disallowing it from throwing her off her journey. This theme of navigating through the presence of an unwanted being was fitting at the time as the world was forced under the glass dome of a global pandemic. For Kehlani, everything else was good until it wasn’t, and for the rest of us, by that same token, the once-normal world that we previously took for granted was good until it was deemed otherwise. With that, it leaves us with two options: wait for things to work themselves out or acknowledge the circumstances as a sign to make changes in your life. With her third album Blue Water Road, Kehlani opts for the latter.
Recreating happiness is what Kehlani strives for on Blue Water Road. In its best form, it’s as pure and euphoric as the ocean waters that sat across from the Malibu stretch of road that her third album is named after. Luckily for Kehlani, happiness is not uncharted territory for her. The singer’s 2015 debut album SweetSexySavage is probably the giddiest and most spirited we’ve heard her be so far. But it came with a heavy dose of naivety and overflowing charisma that, together, asked “what could go wrong?” Well, a lot did and that’s what brought us to It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. However, time heals and it did for Kehlani as it placed her on an upward trek that returned her to her better days. Kehlani succeeds at recreating happiness on Blue Water Road while her old naivety is replaced with the gratitude to be here again. It also comes with the understanding that she’s not only experienced the worst, but a permanent residency at the top of the world goes unguaranteed.
By the end of Blue Water Road, Kehlani’s lifelong search for serenity is complete, and it’s quite fulfilling. In an Apple Music interview, she revealed that her initial intention on Blue Water Road was to make music for a deluxe release of It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. What Kehlani didn’t know at first is that the growth she needed was already in progress, and thus the music that came out of those sessions was no longer connected to her sophomore album. We waste no time learning about these changes as Kehlani yearns to “throw a paper tantrum” at a strip club for a dancer she’s grown very fond of. Just two years ago, she forced herself to be in the middle of loud music and erratically flashing lights while noting, “Damn, you know I hate the club.” Where It Was Good Until It Wasn’t begins with a chilling anecdote about a “Toxic” love, Blue Water Road sets off with accountability and the recognition of her faults in love through “Little Story.”
Kehlani progress on this journey comes with its missteps and unsuccessful moments. It’d be wrong to assume that the ever-growing 27-year-old singer suddenly figured out how to perfectly and flawlessly approach life. She enters a new relationship only to leave with regrets on the Slick Rick-sampling “Wish I Never,” she’s gaslit on “Get Me Started” with Syd, and she attempts in a very Issa Rae way to justify her infidelity on “More Than I Should” with Jessie Reyez. It’s all honest and relatable and it’s what makes Kehlani’s music so indulgent. She never approaches it from a holier than thou perspective, and she never throws stones from her glasshouse. We understand Kehlani cause we’ve been there before and we all aim to fit life’s complicated puzzle pieces together to solve some problem that we have.
With that, Kehlani successfully achieves serenity through her ability to establish it within her. You can’t fall in love without knowing and accepting what you love, and you will never find peace without dealing with the chaos that lies within. A perfect example of that comes on “Altar,” where Kehlani grapples with grief and achieves the initially impossible feat of accepting that a loved one is no longer physically present. “Soon, I’ll see your face,” she sings with undeterred optimism. “Don’t know why I ever thought you were far away / I shoulda known better.”
So what does serenity look like for Kehlani? It could be finding a love so perfect and united that she confuses her hair, reflection, and her skin for her lover’s on “Melt.” It could also be enjoying the fruits of her labor towards a healthy love on the nearly-NSFW “Tangerine” where she sings, “So don’t tell nobody what’s done in the garden / The fruits you can harvest, they grow where you water.” However, it’s best captured on “Everything” as the arrival of a new lover who checks off her physical, verbal, and compatibility boxes leaves her to praise the heavens for this gift she’s waited so long for. As a result, her excitement for it can’t be bottled. “That was before me, it’s childish, you done with your wildin,’” she sings. “Now you can be wild with me, run that mile with me / Catch some flights out with me.”
Simply put: Kehlani won. She found new love and accepted her natural identity – both sexual and physical – all while managing to keep the thunderous clouds and unsettling fires that shook her world on It Was Good Until It Wasn’t out of her present-day life. Nowadays, things are better than good, they’re great, and it’s all thanks to Blue Water Road.
Blue Water Road is out now via TSNMI/Atlantic. You can stream it here.
Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Kehlani has never been one to make her fans wait too long for a new project from her. That’s evident through her latest project Blue Water Road, which arrives just two years after her sophomore effort It Was Good Until Wasn’t was released. Blue Water Road dropped with 13 songs and features from Blxst, Syd, Justin Bieber, Jessie Reyez, Ambre, and Thundercat. So far, Kehlani has shared videos for “Altar” and “Everything” from the project, with the latter coming when the project was released. Now, she adds a third one to the mix with a visual for “Up At Night.”
The new video kicks off with Kehlani asking her Google-powered speaker to play her sleep playlist. “Up At Night” soon roars in the background and Kehlani hops into bed to fall asleep. With that, we enter the singer’s mind which is filled with vibrant colors, elegant dance moves, sparkly diamonds, and more, which are all brought forth by her feelings towards a newfound romance.
During a recent Apple Music interview, Kehlani revealed that many of the songs on Blue Water Road were initially records for a deluxe version of It Was Good Until Wasn’t. However, she says she mentally “wasn’t in the deluxe of my last album” due to a unique experience at the location of where the music was recorded, and thus, Blue Water Road was born.
You can check out the visual for “Up At Night” in the video above.
Blue Water Road is out now via TSNMI/Atlantic Records. You can stream it here.
Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
