This past April, Kehlani came out as on an Instagram Live video. “I am gay, g-gay, gay, gay,” they later said on TikTok back then. We might learn more about this lifestyle embrace when their new album, Blue Water Road, is released at some point this winter. In fact, Kehlani has even said that the new music “feels vastly different than anything I’ve ever created before.”
The press rounds in the lead up to Blue Water Road have begun and in a cover story with beauty and style magazine Byrdie, the R&B star said that the new album “talks about love and coming into gayness.” In the revealing interview, Kehlani talks about notions of beauty, motherhood, fame, writing love songs, and of course, identity. Early on in the story, Kehlani addresses pronouns and how while “she” is acceptable, “they” just feels better.
“I don’t mind when people say ‘she’ at all, but something feels really affirming when people say ‘they.” For Kehlani, using non-binary pronouns feels like an earned respect. “It feels like… you really see me.”
It’s great to see Kehlani embracing who they are and how they would like to be seen. You can read the full profile here.
Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.