Kehlani takes her fans through her romantic and intimate experiences with each and every song on her ne walbum “While We Wait”. (@kehlani/Instagram screenshot)
After a two-year gap, R&B singer-songwriter Kehlani came back with her sophomore album “While We Wait” Feb. 22 featuring 6LACK, Musiq Soulchild and Ty Dolla $ign.
She is known for being a strong feature on albums such as “Invasion of Privacy” by Cardi B or Hayley Kiyoko’s “Expectations.”
Kehlani brings a classic R&B feeling that is reminiscent of ‘90s R&B with soft vocals and soulful lyrics. This style showcases her vocal range and utilizes falsettos to give her songs more soul.
Kehlani’s top-streamed song from the album is “Nights Like This,” which features Ty Dolla $ign. As a self-identified queer person, this song touches on her relationship with another woman. She mentions a back-and-forth relationship where they try to make things work but it never does. She sings a strong line about the breakup: “Thought you was mine, but you decided to be with him though. You took my feelings and just threw ’em out the window.”
In other songs, Kehlani mentions topics that are not so classic, like figuring out someone’s love language, disclosing who you’re with, showing love and more. These topics are sensitive and personal. Topics such as these are seen in “RPG” featuring 6LACK, “Nunya” featuring Dom Kennedy and “Love Language.”
The song “Nunya” is an extremely empowering song where Kehlani says it’s none of anyone’s business who she’s with or where she’s going. This reflects a toxic trait in many abusive relationships where a significant other obsesses over where their partner is or who they’re talking to. In Kehlani’s case, she’s telling her ex to mind their business.
“RPG” is an emotional song where Kehlani begs for her partner to show her their love and stop playing games. She also discusses her distaste for the compliments she received only when asked for. She even mentions not being called beautiful enough, which hurt her confidence in the relationship.
“You tell me I’m beautiful because I told you you don’t tell me enough,” Kehlani sings.
In “Love Language,” Kehlani takes listeners on the journey of learning a person’s love language; something that’s often overlooked. Someone’s love language is the way they feel, give and receive love.
“I wanna be fluent in your love language, learning your love language. I know I don’t speak your language but I wanna know more, baby,” Kehlani sings.
Kehlani takes her fans through her romantic and intimate experiences with each and every song. In each song, you don’t just hear the experiences in her lyrics, but the emotion in her voice. One thing you can say for certain about Kehlani’s album, is “you give me, you give me feels.”
Rating: 4/5
Madison Appleby is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at madison.appleby@uconn.edu.
