Kehlani

Kehlani Puts Her Crush On An ‘Altar’ In Her Cottagecore-Inspired Video

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After serving up her While We Wait album in 2019 and It Was Good Until It Wasn’t LP in 2020, Kehlani is gearing up for yet another release in 2021. The Bay Area singer returned this week to tease her upcoming Blue Water Road release, which she has now previewed with the new love struck single “Altar.”

Directed by Kid Studio, the opulent video leans into the recently popularized cottagecore aesthetic, filled with flowing outfits, colorful flowers, and rustic decor. Kehlani and her crush delicately dance around the small house until nightfall and the room is filled with the warm glow of candlelight.

Speaking about the new single and video in a statement, Kehlai said it’s dedicated to the ones she’s loved loved and lost. “To all those i have lost, all the angels i have gained, all those that walk with me with hands cracking my chest open, this is for you. i love you,” she wrote.

Ahead of the “Altar” visual’s release, Kehlani announced her Blue Water Road album with an eerie trailer. It opened with the singer stranded on a deserted dirt road with an injured leg. A dragonfly lands on her hand and instantly burst into flames. So far, Kehlani hasn’t shared a solid release date for the upcoming album, but she did note that it’s slated for a winter release.

Watch Kehlani’s “Altar” video above.

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kehlani Announces Her New Album ‘Blue Water Road’ With A Beguiling Trailer

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Kehlani, the Bay Area singer who helped to launch a revival of R&B with her mixtapes Cloud 19 and You Should Be Here and continued to carry the flag while breaking new ground with albums SweetSexySavage and It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, is preparing to release her new album, Blue Water Road, this winter. She announced the album with a beguiling trailer which is sure to spark curiosity for what appears to be a highly conceptual project.

The cinematic clip shows a snippet of a larger, magical narrative, opening on a closeup of a demolished statue and pulling away to the singer nursing a bloody leg injury as she traverses a barren landscape via a deserted dirt road. She encounters a buzzing insect, which she catches, but the bug bursts into flame, causing her to drop it on the ground. When it lands, a group of vines bursts from the gravel to collect its remains, then Kehlani is overshadowed by something that rises up in front of her off-camera before a smash cut to black and title cards reading “Blue Water Road. Coming This Winter.”

Watch the trailer for Kehlani’s new album Blue Water Road above.

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nicki Minaj Seeks Help From Kehlani, Jhene Aiko, Summer Walker, And More For An Upcoming Track

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Earlier this year, Nicki Minaj made it clear that she was working on music thanks to the re-release of her beloved mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty. Three new songs were attached to the re-uploaded project, with one of them being “Seeing Green” with Drake and Lil Wayne. From that moment on, new releases from the Minaj arrived at a consistent rate. She teamed with Polo G for their first collaboration before remixing BIA’s hit record, “Whole Lotta Money.” Nowadays, the Pink Friday rapper is hard at work on what appears to be her next album, and as she progresses with it, Nicki took to Twitter to put out a special request.

After sharing a sultry snippet that features her repeatedly singing, “yeah,” Nicki revealed she needed help from a crew of singers to complete the song. “Barbz: ask Keke, Tamar & Brandy to redo this,” she wrote in a tweet. “That’s what I sound like in my head. Would love to hear ppl who can rlly do it.” In a second post, she added, “Summer, Jhené & Kehlani can be good in the blend as well with their harmonies.” Kehlani caught wind of the tweet and asked Nicki to be a bit more specific with her request. “Just challenging 6 gurls to redo that lil thing I sang,” Nicki replied. “It’s on my story. Then I’ll take the a cappella & put together a lil Smthn,” she wrote, adding, “no big zeal zo.”

Summer Walker also responded to Nicki and wrote, “I’d love that [black heart emoji].” Nicki replied, “Okay puddin pop. Love you. Dm it or post it when u want. No big zeal.”

It’s unclear when the record Nicki has in mind will arrive, but fans sure are excited for its release in the future.

You can view Nicki’s tweets above.

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Justin Bieber Will Perform With The Kid Laroi, Jaden, Kehlani, And Others At His Three-Day Vegas Weekender

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Justin Bieber is bringing his talents to Las Vegas and it’s not just for one night only. Rather, the singer has curated a three-day getaway experience in Las Vegas for he and his fans to enjoy, and Bieber won’t be the only one putting on a show there.

The Justice singer invited The Kid Laroi, Jaden, Kehlani, David Guetta, and others to perform at the experience, which will be held on the weekend of October 7-10 at Wynn Las Vegas’ XS Nightclub and Encore Beach Club. The entire getaway was curated by Bieber himself, who made sure to include some of his favorite activities in the Weekender’s itinerary.

The Vegas experience begins on Thursday night with an opening party at XS. The following day presents a pool party at Encore Beach, with Bieber’s activation arriving on the final day. There, attendees will be able to enjoy his favorite food and drink pop-ups, a half-pipe and skate park, and, of course, a show headlined by the singer himself. Troyboi and Eddie Benjamin also appear on the guest list for performers with more special guests set to be announced at a later date.

Bieber recently saw he and The Kid Laroi’s “Stay” collaboration spend a second week atop the Billboard singles chart. The track is their second song together as they previously collaborated on “Unstable” from Bieber’s sixth album, Justice. Jaden also appeared on the album while Kehlani can be found on “Get Me” from Changes.

You can view the Vegas weekender flyer above.

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kehlani Details Her Past Experience With Weed And Explains Why She Stopped Using It

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There are a number of artists who are open about their marijuana use, among them Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus. Another used to be Kehlani. In a recent TikTok video, the singer opened up about her past experience with the drug after a fan asked about it. She also explained why she decided to stop smoking it.

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“I used to smoke a lot of weed and now I speak on it in a past tense perspective,” she said. “People think I’m s*itting on weed, I’m not. I loved weed when I was involved with it. It’s a beautiful plant with very nice properties when used correctly. I don’t think that I was using it correctly. I think I was overusing it.”

She addded, “It really really messed with my vocal cords and it really took a lot of energy from my day … I stopped to regulate my body and myself… I got to a point where I couldn’t eat, sleep or be at a social gathering. I couldn’t kick it without smoking weed and I just didn’t want it to have that hold on my life anymore … And also my throat and lungs were tired of me.”

While marijuana was not a good fit for her, Kehlani doesn’t knock those who enjoy a puff or two. “I’m not judging the weed smokers!” she said. “Get it, girl.”

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kiana Lede And Kehlani Struggle With The Consequences Of Cheating On ‘Ur Best Friend’

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Plenty of R&B acts came out to impress last year with their respective projects despite the pandemic making it anything but a normal year. Two artists who did this are Kiana Lede and Kehlani. The former shared her debut album, KIKI, while the latter delivered her sophomore effort, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, which both stood out for their own reasons. More than a year removed from the releases, Kiana and Kehlani bring their talents together for their new single titled “Ur Best Friend.”

Both singers find themselves deep in thought after cheating on their current respective partners. Kiana nor Kehlani don’t necessarily feel guilty about the act of infidelity, in fact, after returning to their original partners, they both long for another moment with their cheating counterparts. “Almost called your name when he was in it,” Kiana admits while Kehlani sings, “And he’s almost perfect / And that’s why it hurts.”

The new collaboration comes after a quiet 12 months that followed since Kiana dropped her KIKI album. Her releases after the project were mainly guest features, those being “This Day” with Usher, “A Little More” with G-Eazy, and a remix of They.’s “Count Me In.” She also veered into the political lane with her summer 2020 track, “Dear Mr. President.”

As for Kehlani, she recently joined T-Pain in a video for their “I Like Dat” collaboration while working with other names like Amorphous and Pink Sweats for their respective “Back Together” and “At My Worst” efforts.

You can listen to the duo’s new single in the video above.

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2021 So Far

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Certified bangers from Drake, Tyler, The Creator, J. Cole and more. Continue reading…

T-Pain And Kehlani Pull A Slick Scam In Their Western-Themed ‘I Like Dat’ Video

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T-Pain may have suffered through a long depression as a result of some harsh criticism but recently, he’s been experiencing a career renaissance that must certainly feel validating after he was once blamed for “f*cking up music.” His song “I Like Dat” with Kehlani — which flipped one of his most iconic hits before TikTok could get to it — led to a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and renewed interest in future collaborations. Now, he’s shared the Western-themed music video for the track, piggybacking on the continued “Yee-Haw Agenda” that is also back after a year off due to COVID.

The video follows the exploits of T-Pain’s outlaw salesman character as he rides his coach into town to pitch his “Drank” — as you “Let me buy you…” — using Kehlani as his plant to convince the townspeople to buy his entire stock. Its advertised effect? Instant attraction from women, as demonstrated by Kehlani receiving a big, wet kiss from a beautiful bystander. After delivering a performance at the local saloon, the two cowpokes skedaddle before anyone can wise up to their “love potion”‘s clearly exaggerated effects.

Fortunately for T-Pain’s fans, they can try his real dranks courtesy of his book of cocktail recipes coming soon. Watch the video for “I Like Dat” above.

HER Says Some People Don’t Recognize Her Without Sunglasses: ‘I Feel Like Clark Kent’

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Before earning four Grammy Awards, over a dozen nominations, and an Oscar, HER has been perfecting her artistry since a very young age. Along with making a name for herself with her moving music, the singer is also known for her ever-present sunglasses. In fact, some people apparently don’t recognize her without them.

HER recently chatted with Variety for their cover interview. During the conversation, HER spoke about her decision to take on a moniker, sport shades, and appear only as a silhouette on the cover of her debut project:

“Honestly, the reason I wanted to be HER is because I felt people tended to focus on the looks of things instead of music — listening with their eyes and not their ears. It was a social media time of the whole package: ‘This is what an artist should be; this is what a woman should be.’ So when I first released music, I wanted to be a silhouette — these truthful stories were what I wanted to show, not me.”

The singer added that when she walks around her Brooklyn neighborhood, “people don’t recognize me without my glasses. Sometimes I feel like Clark Kent.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, HER described the ups-and-downs of starting her career at such a young age. “It was tough, honestly,” she said. “I would leave school for a few days every month or every other month to travel to New York, and I’d be doing independent study in the studio. There were a lot of sacrifices made, especially by my parents.”

But even with the sacrifices, HER always knew she was striving to make it big. “I’m thankful I was able to go to school, but honestly, I’d be sitting in class like, ‘I can’t wait to get back to New York and work toward my future,’” she added. “Everybody else was thinking about the weekend, but I was thinking about the next ten years.”

Check out HER’s full conversation with Variety here.

T-Pain And Kehlani Deliver A Soaring Performance Of ‘I Like Dat’ On ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’

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Kehlani’s run of duets over the past couple of years is bordering on legendary. She’s given the Bay Area a new wedding anthem with Rexx Life Raj, shared the tender “At My Worst” with Pink Sweats, and done heart-tugging joints with Russ and Bryson Tiller. She elevates practically everything she touches, and that includes her latest collaboration with T-Pain, the lush “I Like Dat.” The pair appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform their new hit, giving a swaggering rendition complete with cowboy hats and baggy chaps.

As enjoyable as the collaboration has been, it was nearly consigned to an extensive list of partnerships that never happened thanks to T-Pain’s unawareness of Instagram’s UI. The “Bartender” crooner posted a TikTok video toward the end of April, apologizing to all the celebrities and potential collaborators who reached out to him via Instagram’s DMs as he explained that he didn’t realize that verified accounts’ DMs also get filtered into the “requests” folder. Among those he’d overlooked were Diplo, Fergie, and more. But it turned out to be beneficial, as he later held a town hall with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about potential improvements for the feature. T-Pain also premiered “I Like Dat” during the stream, promising plenty more to come now that he’s realized people have been trying to get in touch with him.

Watch T-Pain and Kehlani perform “I Like Dat” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! above.