You Should Be Here’s dynamism and generosity is something to be amazed by, especially considering Kehlani is all of 19 years old. The beating heart at the center of You Should Be Here forgives some of these dips into mawkishness. And, much like Ocean, when Kehlani veers toward the maudlin, somehow the sincerity of it all redeems itself. Kehlani, along with right-hand-man producer Jahaan Sweet, shares Ocean’s auteuristic vision and plainspoken eloquence. If there’s a contemporary comparison to be made, it’s Frank Ocean. Kehlani has little in common with other former-child-stars-turned-singers Zendaya or Tinashe (Kehlani and her band made it to the finals on "America’s Got Talent"), and she has little in common with the music of cool, casually misogynistic R&B bros, and in spite of a connection to PARTYNEXTDOOR and hailing from Oakland, neither of those facts figure much into her music, at least on an obvious level. Kehlani spends most of You Should Be Here switching between telling various dudes to get their shit together and the rest on a mission to inspire humanity. The song’s lyrics might be the biggest red herring of all. It’s a fascinating song, and only in the most superficial ways does it suggest anything about You Should Be Here’s loftier goals. The song is a sensual shuffle that channels SZA, Jhené Aiko, and Kelela, from spacey, hesitant vocals, to a slowed-and-pitched-down rap (from the typically nimble Chance the Rapper), to the lyrics-it’s a straightforward ode to lust, all about desire and longing and waiting for the moment where wanting and having your partner collide. As red herrings go, first single "The Way" off Kehlani’s first official album, You Should Be Here, is a doozy.
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