Kehlani Says They Were Scared To Make R&B That Wasn't About Pain

Kehlani is in a happy place in their life and they like singing about it. However, as an R&B artist, they initially struggled with the decision due to the nature of most R&B music. Artists like Mary J. Blige are known for making music about love and pain and have faced criticism when they decided to make music that was more on the happier side. In an interview with PEOPLE, the “Everything” artist talked about their new approach to their music.

"I think that we as a generation have grown up understanding a lot of music as an expression of pain – so many important moments in R&B were from pain, and so many moments of my career were from pain," the mother of one said.

"Deciding that I was gonna change from that and that I was gonna grow from that was a scary thing because I knew there'd be people in my comments every time I get into something where I seem happy and they're like, 'Nah, I hope they break your heart and then you give us a SoundCloud drop' or something like that," they added.

The world watched on as Kehlani was viciously attacked on social media and verbally at shows after their breakup with Kyrie Irving in 2016 due to rumors of them allegedly cheating on the NBA star. They were later hospitalized that same year after an apparent suicide attempt.

Now the Grammy-nominated singer appears to be in a healthy relationship with fellow artist 070 Shake who also appears in their music video for “Melt.”

Kehlani - melt [Official Music Video]www.youtube.com

"I'm just grateful that they really see me in this and people that have seen me just go through thing after thing, after thing in the public eye are happy for me and see beyond relationship-wise — just the growth in me personally, and the growth in me and motherhood and the growth of me and my career and are happy for that," they shared.

Their latest album Blue Water Road reflects the love and happiness that they are experiencing in their life at this moment and fans seem to be receptive to it.

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Featured image by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for YouTube Beauty