Kehlani | While We Wait | Album Review

TSNMI / Atlantic
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In the couple years that followed the release of her first debut album, SweetSexySavage, in late January of 2017, Kehlani returns to the studio, releasing her third mixtape, While We Wait. As an artist on the rise and as one featured on many songs, such as Eminem’s “Nowhere Fast” and Cardi B’s “Ring,” Kehlani is establishing herself as able to carry her own in the music business.

The nine-track project portrays relationships in today’s modern age. Featuring prolific artists 6lack, Ty Dolla $ign, Dom Kennedy, and Musiq Soulchild, While We Wait emits a subtle, tranquilizing feel that has an intertwined vibe of R&B and soul.

The ambient feel of soul and R&B is felt in the opening seconds of the album in “Footsteps,” with calm guitar and the vibrant sound of ocean waves. Kehlani’s euphonic vocals with the lyrics, “I left footsteps in the mud so you can follow me / You’re so bad at holding water, slips right through your fingers,” creates a warm and pleasing visual.

Another track, “RPG,” featuring 6lack, exemplifies the opposite feeling—a sadder, and cold visual represented in a soulful tone with the collaboration of soft vocals and the raspy, chilling voice of the Atlanta-based rapper.

The track “Nunya” produces an upbeat atmosphere with Kehlani’s fast-paced lyricism. Followed by “Morning Glory,” the tempo is slowed down. A more subtle and calm melody ensues to a consistent beat of percussion.

Overall, Kehlani’s mixtape, While We Wait, presents a sensational ode to pleasure, love, and loss when dealing with relationships. It has a nice balance of vibrant beats as well as warm and cold visuals that personify the lyrical flow of the young artist in the stories that she takes the time to tell. It holds significance as to what Kehlani can produce and how her career will prosper in the future.