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Music

Kehlani Is Honest and Self-Exploratory on New Song "Honey"

Backed only by an acoustic guitar, her classic R&B voice gets a moment to shine.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB

Kehlani has one of those voices, you know? It's as though she was born to be an R&B singer – with her light-but-rich tone and knack for pretty cadence, how could she possibly have ever been anything else? Thankfully, that voice – which, on her January album SWEETSEXYSAVAGE was sometimes slightly obscured by everything else going on – gets a real moment in the sun on her newly-released track "Honey," which you can hear above.

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It's her first new music since the album, and the production is simple, with the acoustic guitar fitted around the vocal to give it ample breathing room. The candour of the lyrics mirrors the clarity of the sound, as Kehlani coos "I'm a beautiful wreck, a colourful mess, but I'm funny" (she gets it) in her silky soprano. And though her metaphors may not be 100 percent on point ("I like my women like I like my honey / Sweet… a little selfish"), she smashes this. "Honey" is a reminder of her enormous talent, and of her unique place – honest, raw, but still keeping it cute – in R&B right now.

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