drawing from every era of her past to emerge fully formed

Music has always been a safe space for Kehlani. Over the past 17 years, across four albums and four mixtapes, the singer has been in pursuit of her truest self, navigating personal relationships, her gender and sexuality, and embarking upon motherhood along the way. Despite experimenting with her sound in recent years, with the reggaeton-inflected 2024 release ‘Crash’ and more understated 2022 album ‘Blue Water Road’, underneath it all, old school R&B is where Kehlani flows naturally.

Her biggest hits prove this fact: from ‘Nights Like This’ to ‘Toxic’ to ‘After Hours’, her proficiency in creating sultry slow jams is unmatched. Making good on the success of last summer’s hit single ‘Folded’, which amassed over 800million global streams worldwide plus a collection of remixes featuring Toni Braxton, JoJo, Mario, and Ne-Yo, Kehlani’s self-titled fifth album is a satisfying time capsule of R&B which leans into nostalgia and celebrates how far the singer has come.

Opening with crashing cymbals and Lil Wayne, lead track ‘Another Luva’ is a mid-2000s throwback that has Kehlani doubling down on her ride-or-die, before segueing into the laidback hip-hop shuffle of ‘No Such Thing’ featuring Pusha T and Malice under their collaborative moniker Clipse. The album’s long list of features also serves as an amalgamation of the singer’s influences: ’90s R&B titans Brandy and Usher, the inimitable rap of Missy Elliott and Lil Jon, and the 2000s nostalgia of T-Pain and Big Sean all make an appearance. Despite the impressive array of collaborators, there are times when ‘Kehlani’ feels unnecessarily long.

While the Cardi B-featuring ‘Pocket’ acts as a feel-good intermission for a collection that often lingers on love that has gone awry, as an album, ‘Kehlani’ is devoted to undulating matters of the heart. Smooth and sultry, ‘I Need You’ captures the earnest physicality of longing for a lover; meanwhile ‘Back and Forth’ shows a more toxic side of when suspicion enters the chat, as ‘Out The Window’ pleads for a partner to return: “Check your insecurities,” says Kehlani in the former. “Leave ’em at the door of our home.”

As forthcoming and blunt as she has been about love, sex, and heartbreak, it is this soul-bearing storytelling and relatability that has always set Kehlani apart. Lusty yet vulnerable, ‘Ooh’ encapsulates desire, peaking with dramatic guitar riffs and dextrous coos. With shimmering production, soaring harmonies and melodramatic conviction, the intimate self-reflection of ‘Unlearn’ outlines her commitment to growth and willingness to “do the work if you still believe”. And while growth may not appear pretty at first, finding security within your own skin and knowing who you are manifests a glow that is unshakable. This is who she is now and, as she says, simply, at the top: “I am Kehlani”.

Details

• Record label: Atlantic Records
• Release date: April 24, 2026