Kehlani Opens Up on New Album, Growth, and Usher Collab on Shade 45
The GRAMMY winner gets real in an exclusive playback with Sway Calloway in front of a live audience.
Kehlani got real in an exclusive sit-down with Sway Calloway on Shade 45 (Ch. 45), speaking in front of a live audience about her new self-titled album (which dropped today), personal growth, and what’s next in her career.
Listen to “Sway In The Morning Playback with Kehlani” on Shade 45 on the SiriusXM app, and watch a clip from it above now.
Highlights from Kehlani’s Conversation with Sway
- For Kehlani, the decision to release a self-titled album came from a place of clarity and rediscovery. She shared that she’s found herself again, making this the right moment to put her name on the project.
- The GRAMMY winner also spoke candidly about navigating adversity and how those experiences have influenced both her music and mindset.
- One of the standout moments from the conversation came when Kehlani recalled working with Usher and how he challenged her to elevate their collaboration:
“Usher FaceTimes me and I’m like there’s no way you just heard that. That was 5 seconds ago and he’s like, no, I called to tell you I don’t like our song, but it’s because I think we can make a way better song and I believe in you and I like you and I really wanted to be the best that we can do…”
Instead of settling, Usher encouraged her to dig deeper. The two spent days refining their music, going back and forth, replaying ideas, and shaping the overall vision.
“…We went back and forth for days playing music and like I kept going over to the crib and just being like I’m there for 6 hours and we’re just going through sounds and music and playing the whole album… what is the perspective we really want to take…”
Kehlani described the experience as a turning point — not just for the song, but for how she approaches her craft moving forward.
“I’m carrying that into the rest of my life… it was such a compliment to me that he didn’t want to just give me anything… I think we could do something way better.”
