Kehlani

Kehlani Ashley Parrish (born April 24, 1995) is an American singer and songwriter.

Kehlani Ashley Parrish was born on April 24, 1995, in Oakland, California.

They were adopted and raised by their aunt when their mother, who had a drug addiction, served time in jail.

Kehlani's father, who also had a drug addiction, died when they were a toddler.

During their teenage years, they attended the Oakland School for the Arts, where they initially practiced dance, particularly ballet and modern dance.

Early in their life, Kehlani aspired to train as a dancer at the Juilliard School, but they had a knee injury in junior high, which led them to turn their attention towards singing.

While living with their aunt, Kehlani was exposed almost exclusively to R&B and neo soul artists, such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, whom today they describe as some of their early musical influences.

When they were 14, Kehlani was recruited to join a local pop cover band, Poplyfe.

Kehlani's singing career effectively began when they started out as a member and lead vocalist for the group called PopLyfe.

The band's music was produced by former Tony! Toni! Tone! member D'wayne Wiggins.

Within two years, the group performed throughout the Bay Area and other cities.

Kehlani is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen pop group Poplyfe in 2011.

In 2011, they auditioned for the sixth season of America's Got Talent, and eventually finished in fourth place.

During their final appearance, judge Piers Morgan told Kehlani, "You've got real talent, but I don't think you need the group."

After the end of America's Got Talent, Kehlani left PopLyfe, because of several managerial and contractual disputes.

Over six months, they avoided doing anything music related to avoid being sued by the group's management.

In 2012 and 2013, Kehlani was effectively homeless, moving from house to house and often sleeping on couches.

During their senior year of high school, they moved to Los Angeles, California, with no legal guardian.

In 2013, Nick Cannon, who had been the host of America's Got Talent during PopLyfe's run, called Kehlani to ask about being in a rap group.

They agreed at first and went to Los Angeles, but, ultimately didn't like the direction of the group and moved back to Oakland.

To help with money and food, they decided to begin stealing iPhones to sell, and items from grocery stores for a short time.

Months later, Kehlani released their first solo track on SoundCloud, called "ANTISUMMERLUV".

Cannon called back after hearing the song and he bought them an apartment in LA, along with studio time.

Their debut mixtape, Cloud 19 (2014), was listed as one of Complex's "50 Best Albums of 2014."

In 2014, the studio time culminated in the release of their first mixtape, called Cloud 19.

The mixtape features guest appearances from Kyle Dion.

Cannon also sent them to New York City to work with record producer Jahaan Sweet.

The mixtape ranked at twenty-eighth on Complex's list of the "50 Best Albums of 2014," and was also listed among Pitchfork's "Overlooked Mixtapes 2014."

A song they released in late 2014, "Till the Morning" was placed by Billboard as one of the "Emerging Picks of the Week" on November 7, 2014.

Its follow-up, You Should Be Here (2015) entered the Billboard 200, received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

In 2015, Kehlani opened for American rapper G-Eazy on the second leg of his From the Bay to the Universe tour.

On April 28, 2015, they released their second mixtape You Should Be Here.

Billboard called it the "year's first great R&B album", when it debuted at number five on Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The project features guest appearances from fellow American rapper Chance the Rapper and American singer BJ the Chicago Kid.

A week after the release, they announced that they had signed a deal to Atlantic Records.

In support of the mixtape, they embarked on the You Should Be Here tour, which sold out every North American date and select European dates.

Throughout 2015, they also received individual plaudits: Complex called them one of the "15 Artists to Watch Out for in 2015" and Rolling Stone named them one of the "10 New Artists You Need to Know".

You Should Be Here also earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album.

Kehlani signed with Atlantic Records to release her debut studio album, SweetSexySavage (2017), which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, while her second, It Was Good Until It Wasn't (2020) peaked at number two.

Their third album, Blue Water Road (2022) peaked at number 13 on the chart and was met with critical acclaim.