‘You Should Be Here’ for Kehlani’s Breakout Year
In late 2014, 20-year-old singer Kehlani was one of the artists I predicted to soon become a household name. Once I saw her perform last year at Oakland’s annual Hiero Day festival, I knew she would bring a fresh flare to the R&B world. As the Oakland native continues to grow her fan base, perform across the nation, and recently release her second mixtape You Should Be Here, she’s showing no signs of slowing down. More fans are riding along the Kehlani tsunami wave and she’s also made quite a splash with executives at Atlantic Records. Shortly after the release of her tape, she announced on Twitter about her new partnership with Atlantic to launch her own imprint, Tsunami Mob. Not only did You Should Be Here garner over 1 million plays on SoundCloud within 24 hours of its release, but also quickly climbed to the top of the Billboard charts. As die-hard fans still await her full-length album, this mixtape is a timeless second chapter into the singer’s life from family ties, to faux friends, to falling in love, and self-love. So if you can relate to anything this R&B sensation pours into her heartfelt songs, then the title speaks for itself, You Should Be Here.
Not only is her music symbolic to life lessons, but her album artwork also tells a story. Her 2014 debut mixtape Cloud 19 is an 8-track set that introduces the singer to the world. The artwork depicts Kehlani in a cartoon fashion as she sits at the edge of an airplane’s wing. As she looks out to the clouds, the image reveals her readiness for lift-off to take on the world of music.
YSBH holds a similar theme with the young singer looking to the sky, but the atmosphere is slightly different. She’s sitting on a platform overlooking the San Francisco Bay, possibly reminiscing on where she’s been, but having a clear vision for the future.
The songbird has made huge plans for the summer as she took to Twitter yesterday to announce her first headlining tour You Should Be Here with special guest Pell. The tour will hit over twenty cities across the U.S. and Canada. The buzz around the newcomer is growing daily and I’d say the future is looking pretty bright.
To get you prepared for catching the tsunami wave when it hits your town, here’s the Melody Mention of my favorite tracks from YSBH:
The title track shows the singer in a relationship who is feeling disconnected with her lover. The type of mate whose presence is physically there, but soul and compassion are non-existent. This type of thing happens in a lot of relationships in which couples start growing apart instead of growing together. The production and lyrics emphatically display raw emotion, so much that Drake would probably jump at the chance to collaborate on a remix. Perhaps the songstress should reach out to the 6 god and make it happen, thank me later!
“How That Taste” is that special track in which Kehlani has her ‘hi hater’ cap on to people who rejected her dreams at first. Many people go through life following a dream that others didn’t believe in, however once success comes, those same people are now showing high praise. However, Kehlani has the “you wasn’t shooting with me in the gym” attitude and has the last laugh because she’s only rocking with her day ones.
She soon transitions into my favorite track and probably my theme song for the remainder of the year, properly titled, “N***as.” As a woman, I completely understand how sometimes we get fed up with how we’re treated by guys and grow tiresome of having our hearts played. We’ve all had those silly moments in which we constantly fall for the same type of lover until we eventually come to our senses and realize we don’t have time for games. “N***as gon’ always be n***as/can’t afford to give my heart to these n***as/ain’t got time to lose my mind to these n***as.” She’s basically singing what every woman has thought of at least once in her lifetime. Granted we all know how the saying goes, “Boys will be boys” but don’t settle for the malarkey, move on to the next!
The songstress joins forces with Chance The Rapper to create musical bliss on “The Way.” The collaboration between these two artists complements each other so well. The sultry track has Kehlani head over heels with everything about her man, from his walk, to his talk, to his love—his entire swag. Chance spits a cool verse showing his cockiness to confidence side and shares some vocals of his own to match the singer’s airy tone. Let’s just say if you ever dreamt of experiencing a weak-in-the-knees type of love, this is the song to play for you and your bae! “Boy, you know all I do is stay up all night losing sleep over you/All I do is drive myself crazy thinking about my baby.”
“Be Alright” is one of the more inspirational songs encouraging listeners to continue moving forward in spite of the hard times. People are faced with battles everyday, but it’s all about how you face each one and know that your faith is being tested. She wants her listeners to realize they are too blessed to be stressed, “So if you’re feeling down, know you’re not alone/And if you’re feeling all confused, know you are not on your own.” Hopefully this song will help change a person’s mindset that although you may be going through a rough patch, everything will be alright.
Kehlani concludes the tape with “Alive,” the pop single that sounds like a mix between Sara Bareilles and Leona Lewis. It’s about feeling like a brand new person once you let go of baggage and negative vibes. This could be a radio favorite as we move into the warmer months, so get ready to ride in your car with the windows down to this hit.
So what‘s the melody behind You Should Be Here? Well if you’re reading this, it’s not too late to join the mob and catch the newcomer performing in a city near you. Kehlani joins a new wave of emerging artists who are proving the state of R&B has a compelling future.
