On the eve of their first performance in the Middle East, DSCVR sat down with Kehlani to talk about their new album, their influences and their plans for the UAE.
This is your first time in the UAE. How are you finding it?
I like it a lot because everyone is nice and really energetic. At the show they knew all of the words to the songs and I was very pleasantly surprised. Everyone has been asking me if I’m doing good, asking if I need anything and telling me that I look nice. I’ve been to places before where people have been a little bit rude, but everyone is really nice here. I’m going to go and see some stuff tomorrow. I’m talking camels, beach, sand – the whole thing!
Was tonight’s performance what you wanted to do, or did you have to change your show for Abu Dhabi?
We had the setlist approved and it was final. Then they held up all these signs in the crowd for requests, so on the spot, we changed it and those turned out to be the loudest songs of the night.
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What can you tell us about the new album ‘Blue Water Road’? We know it’s coming, but what can we expect? Honestly, it keeps getting pushed back and I’m not going to hide that fact anymore. But it’s really fun, it’s really musical, and it’s a lot brighter than anything I’ve ever done. There isn’t really anything sad or dark.
Would you say your style has changed dramatically for this project?
I think I’ve changed dramatically. So whenever I change dramatically, my music will reflect that. I mean, COVID kind of gave everyone a chance to look inward, reflect, be alone and not be pulled in a lot of different directions.
Are there any guest features on the new album that we’re allowed to talk about?
I can’t talk about anyone. It’s far too early, but they are all people that I love and respect very much as artists, and I’m honoured to have them on the project. They’re all very cool to me.
You’ve worked with big names like Cardi B, Eminem and Justin Bieber. Is there one person that you’d like to collaborate with again?
I collaborate so much, and I probably have six features out a year. I work with people that I generally love and consider my friends. I would make a thousand songs with them, whether they have a hundred fans or a million fans. If I like making music with them, they’re my favourite artist in the world.
When it comes to songwriting, where do you draw your inspiration from?
I’m very literal to my personal timeline. So you can go back to any project and probably gage exactly what was going on with me and what (and who) I was dealing with project to project. It’s just very realistic to my life. During COVID, we decided to put the last album out because we were told that it wouldn’t come out until they had figured COVID out. It just kept continuing and continuing, so me and a couple of people on my team decided just to do everything ourselves and put it out. I think to this day, we’re still most proud of that project because we did it in-house, just me and one or two people. It was kind of like proving to people that you don’t need to wait on anybody. Take things into your own hands and do what you’ve got to do.
How would you say your sound has evolved from your earlier mixtapes until now?
I think that I was a different person back then. I started writing songs when I was 18, so my 18-year-old perspective is very different to my 26-year-old perspective. My voice sounds completely different and the time I spend on each song is different. Now I’m going back and re-recording it, being really meticulous with it, and asking people what they think.
Do you feel that there is more pressure with streaming because people are not listening to whole albums now? I don’t think about any of that stuff because it can ruin everything for you. If I’m happy with what I’ve made, then I’m going to put it out. If you stream it or you don’t, at the end of the day, I’m going to make another one in six months that I’ll love to death and think is way better than the one I just made. It will keep going like that for the rest of my life and I just hope that I get to maintain the happiness and the joy that my career brings to me without considering the politics.
Do you still feel that happiness now, or does fame impact your work?
I think I have way more happiness now. In the beginning, I was so hungry. I wanted to get a number one and a Grammy nomination, but it doesn’t mean anything. I’m having fun and I like what I do, that’s it. The fact that I was able to travel all the way across the world and the fans were just screaming the words to me – that’s enough. I get to make songs that mean something to me, then months later, I can come across the world and people will say, “this saved my life.” It’s priceless.
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What’s the plan for you in 2022?
I’m definitely going to tour. I haven’t been able to tour since before I had a baby and she’s going to be three. So I really just want to tour and see everyone in person. It’s a different experience to getting comments and feedback online. Getting to see the impact of what you do in person, there’s nothing like it. I’m going everywhere!
