R&B singer Kehlani first came on the scene as one-sixth of the teen pop band PopLyfe when they competed on America’s Got Talent in 2011. Since then, she has been a reliable soldier in the R&B genre, releasing mixtapes and studio albums since 2014. On April 24, she released her fourth studio album, the self-titled Kehlani, which coincided with her thirty-first birthday as well. It became the first album in her career to debut at number one on the Billboard R&B album charts.

I gave it a listen to see if it was worth the hype. My experience with Kehlani is none. I don’t know her music and doubt I’ve heard her songs before; that is not saying much because I don’t listen to a lot of current-day music. However, on first listen, I thought it was fine but not memorable. I listened to it a second time for safe measure: I can be supercritical and get it wrong if I respond too soon.

Upon listening a second time, I realize she has a soothing, mellow voice akin to Sade’s, with up-tempo R&B tunes reminiscent of early 2000s R&B. She has a lot of features on this album, which can imply insecurity about the reception without the help of veterans to sell her fourth album. Honestly, I don’t think the many guest spots are necessary. She could have carried this album to number one without most of them. The ones I enjoyed are Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Lil Jon, and Cardi B who is becoming more of a 2020s stamp for future listeners, but I like her track as well. Kehlani said herself that she wanted to collaborate with the artists she grew up listening to and admiring. I’m glad she got to do that, but I’m sure Brandy and Usher don’t collaborate for cheap.

Brandy’s feature seems like a loss because you can barely distinguish between the two voices, which is a known issue with The Boy Is Mine singer; Usher’s feature is not bad, but it’s not great, making it not worth it either. With all the collaborations, you can lose sight of whose album you are listening to.

Overall, Kehlani supplied R&B fans with a solid album to hold us down for another year. The hour-long album sounds super mellow, almost not commanding an enthusiastic response, but once you reach the end of the seventeenth track, you’ll want to press that repeat button.