#IGLive with #Kehlani Speaks On Her Music Career W/ Her Baby + More On I...

Kehlani Speaks On Her Music Career W/ Her Baby + More On Instagram Live | August 22nd, 2019

How did Kehlani prep for motherhood? By calling her friends and making music.

There’s an inherent warmth to Kehlani. It’s present in the soft lilt that peppers conversations with sage advice or when she’s singing one of the empathetic anthems that have made the young singer-songwriter a refreshing presence in pop.

For those who haven’t shared space with Kehlani but are among the millions following the 23-year-old on social media — where she’s been known to freely bare her soul — she’s exactly who you think she is.

There are no airs to Kehlani. She wears her feelings, heavily and without apology, and she’s built a career out of radiating calm confidence and positivity

It’s only made sense, then, that she’s brought her fans along on her journey to motherhood after announcing late last year that she was expecting her first child.

With a baby girl on the way — she’s due almost any day now — Kehlani prepped for maternity leave by pausing the intensely personal album she’s been working on to cut “While We Wait,” her third mixtape and first project since her bright major-label debut, 2017’s “SweetSexySavage.”

“While We Wait,” much like the Oakland native’s earlier work, is a sweet mixture of vulnerability and resilience that recalls early 2000s neo-soul, rap and “TRL"-era pop and showcases a fully formed artist with a clear point of view.

If “SweetSexySavage” was about creating from a place of happiness, “While We Wait” is about celebrating the beauty in the complexities of life.

Earnest, unguarded tales of romantic yearning and the heartbreak that often comes with it have always been at the core of her work, but Kehlani has also made space to ruminate on identity, self-love and mental wellness.

She’s written and sung about failed love and sexual freedom and her turbulent childhood and the darkness that led to a suicide attempt with transparency and optimism rarely seen in pop stars her age. And as one of the few queer women of color to hit mainstream pop radars, she’s become a pivotal voice for her generation.

On the eve of giving birth, Kehlani discussed going back to her mixtape roots, the music she’s put on hold and impending motherhood.