Kehlani

• 1. Introduction

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  Kehlani was a teenager on the stage of America's Got Talent in 2011 when judge Piers Morgan delivered a verdict that doubled as advice. He told them, "You've got real talent, but I don't think you need the group." The group was PopLyfe, a pop cover band from Oakland, California. The singer was Kehlani Ashley Parrish, who uses they/she pronouns and was then still in high school. What does a teenager do with a sentence like that? What happened to the group, and what did leaving it cost? And how does a performer who starts with a talent-show stage end up as a name that other major artists seek out for their own records? This documentary follows the answers through mixtapes, chart battles, public controversies, a farm, a body covered in meaningful ink, and a growing list of causes that have put Kehlani in the middle of political fights.

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• 2. Oakland to Los Angeles

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  In Oakland, California, on the 24th of April 1995, Kehlani Ashley Parrish was born. Their mother struggled with a drug addiction and served time in jail, so an aunt adopted and raised them. Their father, who also had a drug addiction, died when Kehlani was a toddler.

  At the aunt's house, the music was almost exclusively R&B and neo soul. Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott are the artists Kehlani names today as early influences. At the Oakland School for the Arts, Kehlani studied dance, especially ballet and modern dance, and dreamed of training at the Juilliard School. A knee injury in junior high ended that plan and pushed them toward singing.

  At 14, Kehlani was recruited into PopLyfe, a local pop cover band. Their music was produced by D'Wayne Wiggins, a former member of Tony! Toni! Tone! Within two years the group had played across the Bay Area and in other cities. In 2011, PopLyfe auditioned for the sixth season of America's Got Talent and finished in fourth place.

  The fame did not last. Managerial and contractual disputes led Kehlani to leave the group. For six months afterward they stayed away from anything musical, afraid the group's management would sue. In 2012 and 2013 Kehlani was effectively homeless, moving from house to house and often sleeping on couches. During senior year of high school they moved to Los Angeles with no legal guardian.

  In 2013, Nick Cannon called. He had hosted America's Got Talent during PopLyfe's run, and he wanted to know if Kehlani would join a rap group. They agreed and went to Los Angeles, but disliked where the group was heading and returned to Oakland. Money and food were short, and for a time Kehlani stole iPhones to sell, along with items from grocery stores.

  A few months later, Kehlani put a first solo track on SoundCloud called "ANTISUMMERLUV". Cannon heard it and called again. This time he bought them an apartment in Los Angeles and paid for studio time, and that studio time became a mixtape.

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• 3. Mixtapes and Atlantic

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  Cloud 19 arrived in 2014 and carried guest appearances from Kyle Dion. Cannon also sent Kehlani to New York City to work with the record producer Jahaan Sweet. Complex ranked the mixtape twenty-eighth on its list of the 50 best albums of 2014, and Pitchfork placed it among its overlooked mixtapes of the year. In November of that year, Billboard named the song "Till the Morning" one of its Emerging Picks of the Week.

  In 2015, Kehlani opened for the rapper G-Eazy on the second leg of his From the Bay to the Universe tour. On the 28th of April 2015 they released a second mixtape, You Should Be Here. Billboard called it the year's first great R&B album. It debuted at number five on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and featured Chance the Rapper and BJ the Chicago Kid.

  One week after the release, Kehlani announced a deal with Atlantic Records. The tour for the mixtape sold out every North American date and select European ones. Complex put them on its list of 15 artists to watch in 2015, and Rolling Stone named them among 10 new artists you need to know. You Should Be Here earned a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. It was also the first Kehlani project to appear on the Billboard 200, and both mixtapes earned gold certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America.

  In March 2016, Kehlani appeared on "Wrong", a single from the English singer Zayn's debut solo album Mind of Mine. Five months later, their song "Gangsta" was featured on the soundtrack of the hit film Suicide Squad and reached number 41 on the Hot 100. A full studio album was now the obvious next step.

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• 4. Album Years

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  On the 26th of November 2016, Kehlani revealed the title of a debut studio album, SweetSexySavage. Atlantic Records released it on the 27th of January 2017, and it peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. That December Kehlani appeared on "Nowhere Fast", a single from Eminem's ninth studio album Revival. Their third annual Tsunami Christmas tour ended in Santa Ana, California, on the 18th of December 2017.

  The year 2018 was a season of opening slots and features. Kehlani supported Demi Lovato's Tell Me You Love Me World Tour across North America from the 26th of February to the 2nd of April. In April they joined Halsey's Hopeless Fountain Kingdom World Tour for its Oceania leg. In March they featured on Charlie Puth's single "Done for Me" from his second album Voicenotes. In April they appeared on "Ring", from Cardi B's debut album Invasion of Privacy. The song peaked at number 28 on the Hot 100 and became Kehlani's first entry in the top 40.

  On the 22nd of February 2019, Atlantic released the mixtape While We Wait. It debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 with 34,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Its singles were "Nights Like This" with Ty Dolla Sign, "Nunya" with Dom Kennedy, and "Butterfly". On the 27th of September 2019, Kehlani and the Russian-German DJ Zedd released "Good Thing". In November came "Morning", a single with Teyana Taylor.

  On the 28th of January 2020, Kehlani appeared on "Get Me", a promotional single from Justin Bieber's album Changes. They were also due to support Bieber's Changes Tour, alongside Jaden Smith. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the tour to 2022, where it was renamed the Justice World Tour. Kehlani was dropped as an opening act.

  Their own second studio album, It Was Good Until It Wasn't, came out on the 8th of May 2020. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 83,000 album-equivalent units, including 25,000 copies of pure album sales. The songs Kehlani recorded next would not fit on any deluxe edition.

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• 5. Blue Water Road to Kehlani

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  In September 2020, Kehlani recorded songs meant for a deluxe version of It Was Good Until It Wasn't. After the session, they decided the material belonged on a separate project. That decision started the third studio album, Blue Water Road.

  Kehlani describes the period before it as a spiritual detox, an effort to escape a toxic cycle with themself. After a breakup, and near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they stripped themself down emotionally and began writing to process the change.

  On the 14th of September 2021, Kehlani revealed a teaser for the album. The lead single "Altar" followed the next day. "Little Story" came out on the 24th of February 2022. On the 30th of March, "Up at Night", featuring Justin Bieber, became the third single. Blue Water Road was released on the 29th of April and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200. The Blue Water Road Trip tour ran through the United States and Europe from July to December 2022, with Rico Nasty and Destin Conrad as openers. In 2023 Kehlani headlined concert performances at both the WNBA All-Star Game and the MLS All-Star Game.

  On the 4th of April 2024, "After Hours" arrived as the lead single of the next album. Crash followed on the 21st of June 2024, featuring Jill Scott, Omah Lay and Young Miko, and peaked at number 25. Kehlani's fourth mixtape, While We Wait 2, was released on the 28th of August 2024. It held 14 songs, with features from Lucky Daye, kwn, Vince Staples, FLO, Destin Conrad, Lil' Mo and DIXSON. Kehlani says it took only two weeks to record, all of it at home. Its cover nods to the first While We Wait, showing them staring at themself in a mirror with floral wallpaper behind. On the 13th of December 2024, a Christmas-themed trap song with GloRilla followed.

  On the 11th of June 2025, Kehlani released "Folded". It peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards. In October 2025 came the Folded Homage Pack, with remixes featuring Brandy, JoJo, Mario, Ne-Yo, Tank and Toni Braxton. "Out the Window" arrived on the 7th of November 2025, with its official video released on the 27th. On the 10th of April 2026, Missy Elliott joined Kehlani on "Back and Forth". The self-titled fifth album, Kehlani, was released on the 24th of April 2026, which is also the artist's birthday.

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• 6. Private Lives

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  In January 2016, it was confirmed that Kehlani was in a relationship with the NBA point guard Kyrie Irving. Two months later, the Canadian singer PartyNextDoor posted a picture of Kehlani's hand on Instagram, hinting that they were in bed together. The post set off a media controversy on Twitter, with abuse aimed at Kehlani spread across hundreds of thousands of posts. Soon afterward, Kehlani attempted suicide.

  Irving later said on Twitter that the pair had broken up before the incident. Kehlani posted a public statement saying they had not cheated and acknowledging the attempt. In an interview with Power 106, they traced it to the negative media response and to their first major heartbreak. They have said the album they made afterward was therapeutic. In 2018, Irving wrote an apology to Kehlani in an Instagram post. Kehlani responded by wishing him well.

  On the 6th of September 2019, Kehlani was confirmed to be dating the rapper YG. They broke up after three months, yet released a Valentine's Day single, "Konclusions", on the 14th of February 2020. In an interview on The Breakfast Club in May 2020, Kehlani said they had found out about YG's cheating after seeing his phone. YG apologized by filling their lawn with roses. The two do not speak, but remain cordial.

  On the 12th of October 2018, Kehlani announced on Instagram that they were pregnant with a girl. The father was Javaughn Young-White, who plays guitar for Kehlani. In December 2018 they spoke about prenatal depression and how pregnancy can be harder than it looks. In 2019 Kehlani gave birth to a daughter at home. In the summer of 2020, Kehlani bought a small farm in Simi Valley, California, where they live with their daughter.

  That same year Kehlani began practicing La Regla de Ocha, an African diasporic religion. They have also been in a relationship with Danielle Balbuena, the 070 collective member known as 070 Shake. In 2024, Kehlani was briefly married to the A&R and music executive Mariel Gomerez. Gomerez filed for an annulment three months later, citing fraud and infidelity. In October 2025, Kehlani confirmed a relationship with the British singer and rapper Kwn.

  Kehlani is a vegan. They have spoken openly about being a survivor of sexual assault and rape, and they have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder.

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• 7. Identity and Ink

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  In April 2018, Kehlani used Twitter to describe their sexuality in blunt terms. They wrote, "I'm queer. Not bi, not straight. I'm attracted to women, men, REALLY attracted to queer men, non-binary people, intersex people, trans people. lil poly pansexual". During a livestream in early 2021, they announced that they are a lesbian, after previously identifying as queer and pansexual. They prefer polyamorous relationships, and they say it matters to them to include female pronouns in their music.

  In an April 2019 interview with Diva, Kehlani said they were "definitely on the non-binary scale" while still preferring "she". By December 2020 their Twitter pronouns read "she/they". In a 2021 interview with Byrdie Magazine, they said they preferred "they" because "something feels really affirming when people say they" and "it feels like you really see me".

  Kehlani got a first tattoo at 16. Their skin now carries Coraline, Regina "Reggie" Rocket, and Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega dancing. It also shows Lauryn Hill, Frida Kahlo, a sleeve of roses, a sunflower, and face tattoos of a paper plane and four dots. During recovery from their lowest point, they chose a tattoo reading "perdida y encontrada", which translates to "lost and found".

  In August 2017, on a trip to Australia, Kehlani received a Maori tattoo called a kirituhi. They flew the artist from New Zealand to Sydney to complete it. Kehlani captioned the photo: "The piece representing my whanau/family, 6 koru representing my 4 siblings here on earth and the 2 that have transferred into the next life. 2 mangopare/hammerhead sharks representing guidance and strength through adversity and tribulation."

  On the 5th of January 2018, Kehlani posted a photo showing that a hand tattoo of the word "woke" had been covered with a lotus flower. They explained that they felt their "hand would speak for them before they even got a chance to open their mouth".

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• 8. Politics and Protest

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  In October 2023, Kehlani was a principal signer of the open letter Artists Against Apartheid. In November 2023 they signed another open letter, this one calling for a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. On Instagram they voiced disapproval of celebrities who stayed silent about the Gaza war. They implied that those celebrities put personal business ventures ahead of a humanitarian crisis. On the 27th of May 2024, they aimed similar criticism at fellow musicians.

  Four days later, on the 31st of May 2024, the music video for "Next 2 U" premiered. It opens with a poem by the Palestinian-American writer Hala Alyan and the demonstration chant "Long Live the Intifada", an allusion to the uprising of 1987 against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A Palestinian flag hangs in the background throughout. In the outro, Kehlani vocalizes a message they wrote for the Palestinian children killed in the Gaza war.

  The single came with merchandise designed by Yasmeen Mjalli, creative director and founder of the Palestinian Nol Collective. All proceeds went to Palestinian, Congolese and Sudanese families, in collaboration with Operation Olive Branch.

  In April 2025, Cornell University's president, Michael Kotlikoff, canceled Kehlani's scheduled performance at the annual Slope Day. He claimed they had "espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media." Kehlani replied on Instagram: "I am not antisemitic, nor anti-Jew. I am anti-genocide, I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti an extermination of an entire people, I am anti the bombing of innocent children, men, women, that’s what I’m anti."

  A second cancellation came in May 2025. New York City mayor Eric Adams cited "security concerns" over a free Kehlani concert at SummerStage, part of the city's Pride events. First deputy mayor Randy Mastro sent organizers a letter threatening to revoke their license and refer the matter to police if the event posed a "risk to public safety". The concert had been scheduled for the 26th of June.

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