kehlani - you should be here (2015)

This record feels rushed, actually; it's my least favorite to date.

well "rushed" and "half-finished" were the writer's words

“I started an album as one person and went through the most traumatic event in my life,” she says. Her label held fast to its deadline, leaving her to make an album from songs she barely recognized. “I didn’t connect with any of the music,” she says. “I was embarrassed of everything.”

she's talking about the album in a really specific personal context. she may have not connected w/ the music by the time it came out (or even when it was recorded?) but that's different than saying that the songs themselves aren't good

tbh to me it feels like the story is trying to wedge sexysweetsavage into the well worn storyline that goes "pop artist forced by label to record songs against their will, returns w/ more artistically true album." but it feels like inaccurate framing to me... i mean, i personally wrote at the time that the album was a triumph for "real" R&B in a world where branding and pop stardom mattered more, so idk it's hard for me to see it as a failed sellout record or something like that. again, this is divorced completely from how the recording and release of the album mapped across kehlani's own personal life, and how she feels about it now because of it

it is at best her third best project to me tho

sexysweetsavage didn't seem bad to me, just more 'professional'—not as lived-in in the songwriting or production

as for this album, it's kinda patchy at the beginning. but once it gets to "change your life" it's pretty great until the end. the production gets really cool, some of the melodic runs and stuff on "hate the club" are really cool. it opens up a bit gets, more acoustic... "can you blame me" is perfect. the james blake feature is regrettable. overall this is pretty safely one of the better records i've heard this year.

i really think 'sweetsexysavage' is kinda of a r&b masterpiece.

"Water," "Can You Blame Me," "Hate the Club," and "Open (Passionate)" are my keepers.

oh man "change your life" rules

Leaning into Toxic, Change Your Life, F&MU, Water as the return tracks. I wish Tory Lanez wasn't on Can I, it's otherwise quite good.

it's really just the first 2 songs on here i don't like. "bad news" is a really beautiful song. there's at least 3 instant classic records on this, prob a handful that i would put on a best of mix, and i've been playing the full album aside from "toxic" and "can i" nonstop since friday

the way she slips in and out of "frontin" on "everybody business" is awesome

i've listened to "hate the club" like 100 times, what a song

I really like toxic. thought this project was pretty low key but need to sit with it for a while. sweetsexysavage and while we wait both masterpieces for my money tho

you should be here is so good too. building quite the catalog

"Leave the juice to your squeeze" my god

I'm pretty obsessed with the "Open" half of "Open/Passionate" and the lyrics of the pre- and the chorus (and the perspective flip in the second pre-/chorus!):

[Pre-Chorus]
What if you slip up?
What if tequila grab your neck and say, "Don't bitch up"?
What if you wanna shoot your shot and load the clip up?
Are you scared to lose your queen and gain a bishop?

[Chorus]
Do I got you way too open to be open?
Is the lens you see me through just way too focused?
What if you're curious and caught up in the moment?
Can you hold me down when I'm across the ocean?
Can you control it?
Do I got you way too open to be open?
Would you let it twist up all of your emotions?
What if you're curious and caught up in the moment?
Do I got you way too open to be (open)

lmao my brain just shuts off and stops recording whenever i hear tory lanez's voice

otherwise i regret taking forever to get around to this record, it's fantastic

"bad news" is a really beautiful song

j0rd knows

"Open (Passionate)" is, according to my phone, 2020s most played song.

i just skip the first 2 songs honestly... from that point on it's very easily a top 5 record of the year to me

hate the club... what an artist

"grieving" is so good i'll even endure the unwelcome yodel of james blake

https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/kehlani-can-i-music-video-tory-lanez.html

Lanez wasn’t in the video, but it still featured his verse. “Full transparency cuz i believe in that with my following,” Kehlani tweeted. “His verse is still on the song, the video is solo. new verse on the deluxe.” In a since-deleted tweet, she added, “The album came out months ago i can’t remove it, doesn’t work like that. can only move forward.”

get lanez off this and it might be my fave track on the album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjDDyKoNG2Q

there's a new album out???

Indeed.

It's pretty good

i think shes slipped quite a bit.

this is solid, hope it sticks with me better than the last one

kind of an odd record... it seems like she wanted to make an intimate, minor-by-design sort of album? i think it gets better at the end, starting w/ "altar." i like "tangerine" a lot. the gestures towards tempo (the slick rick sample, the bieber song) don't feel very realized. some of the production and vocals are pretty but idk how much any of the songs really stick w/ me.

the last album was great to me. this album is missing songs like "change your life" and "hate the club" ... and even "bad news" and "everybody business" does the sound of this album better than this album. will give this one a few more tries but it may just be a write off for me.

pitchfork has this rated as the best kehlani album... i'm yelling "objection" at the judge

this is her weakest to my ears

easily

I feel like if she waited a bit longer between albums and gathered up the best material she had, instead of doing random singles and mixtapes, she would have a better strike rate. Six albums (or album-length projects) in eight years is a lot.