On their fourth studio album, Kehlani is finally free. In a recent interview with Apple Music, Kehlani expressed how Crash was meant to be a “joyful” record after coming out of a long period of hardship. “For once, I’m not attached to some story or some public thing or some trauma or some deep explanations.” That’s not to say Kehlani has retreated from the world or that they’re no longer affected by current events.
They’ve recently suffered a professional backlash after speaking out in support of Palestine, resulting in some missed features and getting dropped from unspecified projects. Kehlani seems unbothered by the fallout, though. The “Next 2 You” music video features a squad of dancers sporting keffiyeh-patterned outfits. The message seems clear – Kehlani won’t be bullied into silence. They’re going to do what they’re going to do, and damn the consequences.
This steely core and fierce self-actualization is one of Kehlani’s greatest strengths, helping them to stand out in a crowded and fiercely competitive pop landscape. See, you have heard music like Kehlani’s before. The increasing focus on slick, chic late-night beats since 2019’s While We Wait automatically brings Beyoncé to mind, especially the self-titled Black Album. The soaring silken pop vocals recall everyone from Mariah Carey to Christina Aguilera to Ariana Grande. Kehlani’s fascination with sultry, seductive slow jams sometimes earns them comparisons to Doja Cat. However, it does raise some potential concerns when Kehlani’s “doing their own thing” sounds so much like so many others.
The question is: “So what?” While some genres might demand ceaseless innovation, pop is not one of them. If anything, pop demands the artist needs to be a master of established and acknowledged forms. It needs to be recognizable to some extent. The listener must know what to expect to recognize exceptional talents and performances. Having a rough idea of the last 40 years of pop vocalists will make you realize what a ferociously strong singer Kehlani is, with an incredible range and impossibly pure tonality – possibly one of the greats. Crash is god-tier pop music; make no bones about it. It’s one of the year’s best R&B-infused pop records to date. It’s an absolute must, not just for longstanding Kehlani fans but pop fans in general. It’s not like having more Beyoncé, Rihanna, or Janelle Monáe jams could ever be a bad thing.
Both lyrically and sonically, Kehlani’s not entirely re-inventing themselves, as they’ve been crafting hedonistic, queer-friendly R&B slow jams backed by bleeding-edge beats and production from the start. Again, in the case of Crash, this is a good thing. After the success of a particular very high-grossing world tour, it seemed like every pop star was expected to launch a new “era” with every album. While artistic innovation and novelty are always appreciated, it also seems like capitalism runs amok – innovation as a marketing gimmick rather than an actual quest for improvement. Instead, Crash finds Kehlani playing to their strengths, establishing themselves as the reigning monarch of sultry, seductive, hot R&B.
There’s been a lot of talk of joyful music these past few years, with musicians of every genre discovering the sheer liberatory power of Black and queer music and pop in general. It’s been a necessary course correction after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which felt like a years-long sustained sob and scream. Even the most empathetic person can only process so much grief, trauma, and loss. Even with such a treasure trove of joyful music, Kehlani’s feels among the freshest, the most idiosyncratic, and singular – even if they do sound like other people sometimes. Here’s hoping they keep doing their own thing, finding their own voice, and discovering a style that’s distinctively their own.