Proud Oakland native, Kehlani, is back with new material, but this time in the form of a mixtape and not an album. While We Wait is the singer's third mixtape and comes just two years after her only studio album, SweetSexySavage. Not only is it a terrific mixtape, but it's sure to please any and all R&B-philes' eardrums, especially with outstanding features from Musiq Soulchild and Dom Kennedy.
It's very apparent that Kehlani is heavily influenced by Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, but it's also worth mentioning that the whole mixtape is a callback to early late 90s/early 2000s R&B. There's an obvious interpolation of Omarion's "Ice Box" on "Nunya" and "Morning Glory" sounds like a lost TLC track. I was also able to catch sounds that are reminiscent of Aaliyah and Confessions-era Usher.
WWW only took one month to compile and the final result is magical. Although Kehlani had a grip of different producers work on the mixtape, it's still very cohesive in it's overall sound and tone. What shines brightest on WWW is the songwriting, which was one hundred percent all Kehlani. She's a brilliant lyricist. Being a gifted, soulful singer is just icing on the cake. What she chooses to sing about and the way she delivers it is highly commendable. It makes one think what more she's capable of and what her sophomore album will turn out to be. ★★★★
Key Tracks: "Morning Glory" | "Feels"
★★★★★ Classic | ★★★★ Excellent | ★★★ Good | ★★ Fair | ★ Poor
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