Kehlani is an American singer, songwriter and dancer who is currently signed to Atlantic Records.
Let’s see some interesting facts about her!
1. Kehlani Ashley Parrish was born April 24, 1995 in Oakland, California.
2. She has described her ethnicity as a mix of “black, white, Native American, Spanish, and Filipino”.
3. She was raised by her aunt because her father died when she was young and her mother was in and out of prison. She attended the Oakland School for the Arts initially with a focus on dance.
4. Early in her life, Kehlani aspired to train as a dancer at the Juilliard School, but she suffered a knee injury in junior high and turned her attention toward singing.
5. Her aunt listened almost exclusively to R&B and neo soul artists, and Kehlani counts Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott among her early influences.
6. When she was 14, Kehlani was recruited to join a local pop cover band, PopLyfe.
7. Kehlani’s singing career effectively began when she started out as a member and as the lead vocalist for the group called PopLyfe.
8. The band’s music was produced by former Tony! Toni! Toné! member, D’Wayne Wiggins.[11][12] Within two years, the group did shows through the Bay Area and other cities.
9. In 2011, they auditioned for the sixth season of America’s Got Talent, and eventually finished in fourth place.
30. During their final appearance, judge Piers Morgan told Kehlani, “You’ve got real talent, but I don’t think you need the group.”
31. After the end of America’s Got Talent, Kehlani left PopLyfe, because of several managerial and contractual disputes. Over six months, she avoided doing anything music related for fear of being sued by the group’s management.
32. In 2012 and 2013, Kehlani was effectively homeless, moving from house to house and often sleeping on couches.
33. During her senior year of high school, she moved to Los Angeles, California with no legal guardian.
34. In 2013, Nick Cannon, who had been the host of America’s Got Talent during PopLyfe’s run, called Kehlani to ask her about being in a rap group.
35. She 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, she decided to begin stealing items from grocery stores for a short time.
36. Months later, Kehlani released her first solo track on SoundCloud, called “ANTISUMMERLUV”.
37. Cannon called her back after hearing the song and he set her up with an apartment in LA, along with studio time.
38. The album was listed among Complex’s “50 Best Albums of 2014.”
39. Kehlani’s second mixtape, You Should Be Here, debuted at number 5 on the national R&B/Hip-Hop chart in 2015 and preceded her sold-out North American promotional tour.
40. In 2016, she was nominated for the Best Urban Contemporary Album Grammy Award for You Should Be Here.
41. Kehlani’s debut studio album, SweetSexySavage, was released on January 27, 2017.
42. In January 2016, it was confirmed that Kehlani was in a relationship with NBA point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving.
43. In March 2016, Canadian musician PartyNextDoor posted a picture of Kehlani’s hand on Instagram insinuating that he had gotten back with her. This caused a media controversy across Twitter, in which abuse was tweeted against Kehlani in hundreds of thousands of posts. Kyrie made a tweet saying they had broken up before the incident, but this seemed to go unnoticed. The negative media attention caused Kehlani to attempt suicide.
44. Kehlani took to social media to explain that she had not cheated on Irving. Kehlani is also openly bisexual.
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