The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Kehlani Speaks On New Album, Motherhood, Mental Health Journey, Advocacy For Palestine + More

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

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Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building. Yes, indeed. Kalani, welcome back. Thanks for having me. How you feeling? I feel good. I think the last time we did this, we might have been on a Zoom call.

So it's cool to be in person. Yeah, it was Zoom. How's your spirit? How's your energy? I'm super good. I'm like probably the best I've ever been. Amazing. Yeah. And why is that? I think just life is really cool.

I think I made something I'm stoked about. My fans are stoked. I got to do all these cool signings and see all of them in person and just like be back in the swing of things. So I'm good. Is this a surprise? Oh, go ahead. I said, they say you're a gym rep.

They said you're up at six o'clock this morning in the gym. They say every morning you go to the gym. Oh, they might've lied about this morning. Oh, maybe not this morning. I was dead sleep this morning. Okay, okay. But yeah, I'm up. I'm always about my fitness stuff.

I'm super healthy. I'm the healthiest I've also ever been, so. Yeah, I've been watching videos of you all weekend in New York, and like, you know, a lot of people have been coming to your signings and your pop-ups. Crowd's been crazy.

Yeah, it's been nuts. How did that make you feel, getting that type of love? It's been cool. I mean, I've been doing this for so long, and I've been doing signings for so long and at some point like my brain tricked me into being like you know they're probably gonna lessen over the years because it's like you know we've seen her a bunch she dropped a bunch of projects i'm on project seven or six on project six is it seven seven oh i was right see so much music i forgot um that you know i didn't expect

it to be getting bigger. So they're actually the craziest signings I've ever had so far because it's growing. And that's, you know, that's all you can pray for. I will say, you know, listening to your new album and just seeing you over the last few months, several months talking, there's a confidence and a sense of self that you have now that you didn't have years ago. Yeah, for sure. Why is that? I mean, I think it's been a long mental health journey.

I think it's been a lot of contributing factors, new motherhood, different angles of being publicly aligned with certain things or publicly misaligned or just not stepping into myself. I'm 29. I'll be 30 next year. I'm growing up in a real way. So like I know how to prioritize

and take care of myself differently now. Why did you name the album Crash? So essentially, a crash is the height and the peak of a moment. It isn't like the anxiety that comes before and it isn't like the overthinking

that comes after. It's just this like, excuse me, clusterfuck. It's just this, like, excuse me, clusterfuck. It's just this thing that happens. And I knew this album wasn't going to make sense to most people. I knew that it would be something that you either loved or that you hated, and that kind of just is a crash. And that's kind of been the reception is some people hate it,

some people love it, some people think it's my worst, and some people think it's my best, and I think that's really cool. It's a little bit of everything. It's a little bit of pop. It's a little bit of reggae. It's a crash. It's really a crash. It's a little bit of everything. It's a little bit of pop. It's a little bit of reggae. It's a crash. It's really a crash. Yeah, it's a little bit of everything. Was that what you wanted to do?

You know, I didn't start wanting to do that. I started as myself titled, and I went on this mission to finally make the Kehlani album because I haven't done that yet. And we started going to all these different cities, and we got all these Airbnbs in different places, and it just kind of grew into this thing that resembled i feel like me as a person i feel like i've always been kind of this thing that doesn't make sense to everyone they can't figure out like who i am what i am what my story is how it's been all of these things like can't figure me out in whatever kind of way how how i look

versus how what kind of music i make how i sound. And once it started taking its own life, I was like, oh, okay, it's just me as an album. What is the self-titled Kehlani album supposed to be? Because you said it was supposed to be a Kehlani album. What was that supposed to be? Well, that album, to me, is more rooted in the core things that shaped why I sing. I feel like the Kehlani album will be much more referencing

my actual core musical references. It'll probably be a lot more R&B. But this album really reflected all the things that I listened to, like that I grew up listening to, but didn't necessarily shape my identity as an artist, but reflect like, you know,

worldly where I'm at. So basically we're still getting Kehlani albums. Absolutely. That'll probably be my next album, probably. Lose My Wife is such a toxic record. That'll probably be my next album probably. Lose My Wife is such a toxic record. It is so toxic, K-Line. Why would you make those choices and decisions knowing that it could cost you your wife?

Oh, you know, it's not a true story. I just want it. Oh, no. That's what you tell them? No, it's true. It's true. So in my head, Crash is the story of this anti-hero version of myself that goes to Vegas and has this crazy run in Vegas and ends with that lament of like, damn, I've like, oh, this is Crash instantly. And it's almost like the comedown song of like, oh, these are the decisions that I've made. And like, this is what happened.

So it's more of like a sonic story and an ending to the story than a true story that i needed to smack on there it kind of feels like the hungover song it kind of feels like the next day you're like oh shit this is your shadow side exactly yeah so when you were in the studio writing these songs you were like i'm gonna let my shadow side i was like you know there is there's been so many toxic songs there really has there really has and i feel like it's they are moments that people don't people maybe want to say in their head and been like I've had that perspective or I've gone through that or I've wanted to say that and like I would never say it out loud and to me after I wrote that verse I was like this is kind of like stingy and it is kind of harsh but some people

feel like that so but when I hear songs like After Hours or Better Not or Tears, it does feel like you're longing for a stable relationship. Does it? A little bit, yeah. In those moments. Yeah. I mean, I think everybody wants love. Everybody wants stable love.

And we all just have different journeys through it, you know? Yeah. How has motherhood been? Oh, it's the best. Through this journey. It's the best. She's five. I can't believe it.

Colby, baby. Yeah. And that is a whole. It's a something through this journey it's the best she's five i can't believe it yeah and that is a whole that's a whole other thing i got one baby i'm literally like i'll make the day seem so fun i'm like we're going to the aquarium and we're going here we're going here and then she's like no kind of just want to stay in the house and play i'm like geez what are we gonna do the other day i took her to the park and she was like, I'm just letting you guys know I'm not playing with any of those kids. And I was like, I respect it, but maybe we should try. And she did. And she tried.

And she made some friends. And she's in school, so she has friends. She's still got musical interests. I heard you say one time she had some. She's on the album. She's on the album. She's on Deep. She actually sounds so good that you can't really

tell that it's her, except for her tone is obviously sounds a lot younger than mine, but she's singing her ass off. Do you want her in the industry? Wow. I want her to do whatever she wants to do. If that means industry, sure. If that means she wants my help, sure. If that means she doesn't want my help, sure.

If that means she wants to be a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist, let's do that. It's her world. I'm just here. Is the industry good for kids? I mean, you're somebody who came in the industry young, right? I think that compared, like, there's two different, there's pros and cons on both sides. One, I didn't have access to the proper, like, mental wellness type of regimen or care to have grown up in it the way that i did and we're seeing the effects of people who you know adults now and all these stories are coming out about them being like child

stars or coming out young um and on the flip side i feel like people now have access to that but there's it's also a different demon fame now is completely different it's why i don't really post my daughter i don't there's too many creeps i don't ever heard to ever look back and be like i actually didn't consent to any of this i didn't give any permission we already get embarrassed when our parents play home videos for our friends when they come over like if i'm just subjecting my child to her home video her freaking growing up home videos being widely known all over the internet and she grows up one day and it's like i didn't get to tell you if i wanted that or not you know that's on me as a parent so any more babies

I would love to have more babies whatever God wants to bless me with I receive can we talk about the record What I Want

yeah I want a bitch that look better than me pussy get wow pussy better than me why are you reading it so serious

yeah you should have had Jess read that one let's talk about What I Want pussy get better than me you should have had Jess read that one.

He was so excited to read that, too. But it seems on that record, it seems like you're torn between wanting to be spoiled but also feeling comfortable being the one who spoils. Yeah. Okay, okay. I'm definitely, like, I fluctuate absolutely. I think I'm more of a giver than a receiver of, like, spoiling. I think that's just my nature.

But it's just a classic song about naming all the things that i want i don't think any of them are even cohesive i think they're just like here's a list of all the all my dream things that i want but if you're having a wild weekend in vegas why would you lie to a woman like that why would you make her feel like she's so special isn't that what you do in vegas doesn't Vegas make you? No, not like that. But I'm saying, is Vegas not like some adult Disneyland of all your vices and you don't talk about it when you get home? Actually, I have a tiny residency in Vegas. Thank you.

I have a show. Thank you. I have a show at the end of next month and in August. That's what I do in Vegas. Because even on the song Vegas, maybe I'm tripping. It didn't sound like you was actually in Vegas. You just said what we do is like Vegas. Exactly.

I made a couple songs. Actually, I made part of What I Want in Vegas. I made part of Sucian Vegas. I mean, actually, I made most of Sucian Vegas and a part of Groove Theory in Vegas. But the song Vegas, I made in Los Angeles. Okay. And then nobody go to Vegas to fall in love. They go to creep, have fun. But that's why you't nobody go to Vegas to fall in love. Like they go to creep,

have fun, you know, lie to the person who said I'm lying. I don't know what I got going on. Right. We don't know. Hello. The record sushi,

a sushi. Doesn't that mean, isn't that Spanish? But dirty, right? He said sushi, sushi, sushi,

sushi, sushi, sushi. No, it's just, there we go. Okay. And that's dirty, right? Yeah. It's Sousia. Sousia? Sousia. Sousia. No, it's just Sousia. There we go. Here's a list. Here's a list.

Okay. And it's Dirty, right? Yeah. Dirty Girl. Period. There we go. Bilingual. Is that what the record symbolizes?

Yeah. I do it here. Basically. Okay. I mean, Young Migos versus Crazy, if it's translated, and Jill Scott is Freaky Auntie Max Extreme Lord. Freaky Auntie Max. She is the freak lord, honestly, the original freak.

So I had to tap her in. Yeah. Yeah, that was an honor. I noticed that you don't have a lot of features on this. Was that intentional? No, I tried to get more features. There was a couple of things that were going on, different time things and not necessarily being aligned at the time. Different people not aligning with me and just things not making sense. But the that did stick around for me and really you know held me down i'm super

appreciative and they killed it yeah now after hours were you surprised of how fast i took off especially on social media crazy yeah it was like a huge dance and yeah honestly i have to give a lot of credit to to darius hickman who's an incredible dancer and he was in the after hours video and he left rehearsal for one he was in the after hours video and he left rehearsal for one of the for the after hours video and went home and just like made this little dance on TikTok and it just like it took it on when I think it's such a testament to how powerful like dance is and how like dancers are like DJs like they can really break songs like it's I give him all the credit for that because it's crazy. Did you know who LumiD was before him? Yeah.

Okay. Of course. Why you disrespect her like that? I'm just asking. Damn, that's a classic record. I'm like, of course, the one song. LumiD had one song, so, you know, maybe people...

Well, did she have one? Of course. I think she had one. Yeah, she had one. Now, you also mentioned that this album isn't rooted in your personal experiences or relationships

like your previous albums. Are you saying that just so you don't get in trouble and people be like damn Kalani so toxic no I think running through these chicks I think anytime a running he wants you to be a pimp so bad so bad you know what's so funny is I think people would be surprised if they sat down with me to to actually ask and inquire about my experiences because they might look one way but it's so many different scenarios that lead to why my love life looks the way it does and so many that you'd be surprised who's what's happened with this and what's happened with this and it's just it's my business and it's my world and i'm pretty much in good standing with anybody ever so like running

through these chicks is extreme you do really want me to be a pimp you know maybe i'll just maybe i'll just start embodying it maybe i'll just maybe i'll just live in it maybe i'll just accept it jesus yeah does that bother you people in your in your in your regular business not just your music business all the time no i think it came it comes with the territory i think i at one time you didn't feel like that oh my god i hated. I hated it so bad. But I also, I have been, again, your mental health journey and your journey in being a public-facing person, those have to be in lockstep. Like, those, if you are ever having poor mental health, there are so many times I could say I've been at a table with y'all and been in the worst states of my life.

And I was like, okay, that interview is going to be whatever. And times I've been like, I'm actually not doing interviews this year because all of this shit. But that's good though. You set a boundary. Absolutely. But I've also was not in a positive space to even be able to walk in a room and like hold that. Granted, I think the interview at the time that caused things like that wasn't my favorite experience with someone. No.

But I also at multiple times in my career just have not been just aligned with where i needed to be to be able to show up in that way so now i can hold that you could probably say anything to me and i'd be like all right cool have record labels gotten to the point where they actually respect our artist mental health meaning like if you wake up one morning and you say look i'm not doing no interviews today i'm not doing no interviews for the next six months but they're like no you have to like they'll push you to do it anyway well i've been signed to the same label since I was 19 years old, and now I'm 29.

And they have seen me through everything. So I think they're at the point with me where they're like, we get it, and we also know what you are going to show up and show out for and ask, you know, your fans. Like, I never play about my fans. I never play for showing up for them. And we've always been super transparent and developed a really good relationship with people and media to where I've been able to call people personally and been like, it's not you.

I promise. I'm not doing well. Or I've been on a run and going and going and going for six days. And I just need to come in a little later. I need to reschedule this. And people have been super gracious with me. I'm a huge mental health advocate. So what got you to that place where you are now you know and i mean i know it's a journey i know it's ups i know it's downs but what got you to this yeah honestly i'm gonna use this moment

to be really transparent and to really advocate for people you know getting psychiatric care and i got a psychiatrist and i got a proper diagnosis after what felt like years of getting soft diagnosis and misdiagnosis and I'm able to get medicated help and it keeps my mood stable and I'm here and it keeps me like I would absolutely recommend it to anybody that feels like they need it because it's not something that anybody needs to shame or like be nervous about and it's probably the best thing I've ever done for myself for sure what got you there because most people like you said they feel like they can't talk about it they can't discuss it they can't get the help because they don't want to be shamed especially a celebrity you feel like

somebody will see me do this that never what got you to the point was like f this i need to get help you know i was medicated when i was a kid and i remember not having the most proper experience with it just because i was really young and like you're in school and like every kid has ADHD and like is hyperactive and you know what age were you first medicated do you remember I had to be in like the third grade on Ritalin and it really messed with my personality and my mom was like yeah no like you can't be a zombie. Like I'll take hyperactive, turn up, you know, over like whatever this zombie, you know. And then on top of that, still, I just remained with a psychiatrist. And then, you know, I went into teenagehood

and I didn't have that anymore. And then I became an adult. And just like my experiences in the music industry and the amount of like, honestly, PTSD that that causes paired with, you you know all your childhood trauma and like all these things you kind of get to a point where you're like all right i'm not an expert like i can't keep being the one to dictate this or to supplement or like to to try to fix it i used to smoke a lot of weed can't do it won't do it so you don't smoke anymore oh i haven't been

a smoker in five years. Wow. Damn. People bring me weed all the time, and I'm like, dang. That's the old me. What about indigo? Indigo kind of calms your anxiety. Sativa makes you have panic attacks. You know, it was because I got pregnant, and I couldn't.

And then I went to a throat doctor, and he was like, oh, you don't want to sing for the rest of your life the way your shit looks. Because I was smoking backwards. I was smoking blunts. Like, I was, what? You can find pictures of me with, backwards like packs spread out like like like a money spread psychotic and um just nasty just nasty um and it just i couldn't do it anymore and i'm just i got to a point where i was like okay i'm doing all the things that i can possibly

do i'm going to the gym i'm developing good hobbies I'm not going out I'm not doing this and I'm still struggling it's to the point where I need to call you know I need to ask for help does it affect your art when you're on whatever medication no no it doesn't it I it honestly is the first time maybe ever in my life that I feel like I have been I have I'm clear yes well congratulations like I have been, I'm clear. Yes. Well, congratulations. Thank you. Like I told you when we first started, you can really see

it's a different level of confidence, it's a different level, a sense of security, I would say. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate it. Now, with doing this album, you know, usually people see Kalani

as an R&B artist, but this album is pop, there's country, there's house music, there's reggae music. Were you nervous at all to be like, my fan fans, my core won't get it? I actually felt the opposite.

I felt like my core fans, my actual core fans would get it because there's been hints of all these things. When my mixtape was nominated for a Grammy, it wasn't nominated for R&B. It was nominated for contemporary R&B. So there's been hints of things my whole life. And I felt like they would really understand. I felt like everybody else who really loved one really R&B project of mine or like R&B SoundCloud drops or features would be like, what is this? And so far, for the most part, that's kind of what I've seen. Plus this little subgroup of people who are going like, wow, I didn't even know she had this in her.

This is what's going to make me fuck with her. So it's honestly, it's been cool. I'm kind of really liking the polarity of the response at this point. If I make the same album again, I'm not an artist. If I make the same project after seven projects, this is my chance to pivot.

And I took it and I'm just, I'm stoked to be here. Isn't this what art is though? Some people are like, some people are not going to like it. Exactly. Some people don't like it, some people not gonna like it. Exactly. It's subjective. Exactly.

Some people are like, this is the best thing I've ever heard you do. And some people are like, this is chicken scratch and it sounds like noise and I hate it. No, it's so versatile. It's like, oh, I don't listen to anyone. I made the album I wanted to make and I'm happy with it. Yeah. It's a bunch of different genres within. It's so different.

It was so fun to make. It was the funnest process. It was so many people involved that all feel the exact same way about it. It felt like our album, not just mine. We got to celebrate it. Like, I'm happy. I keep hearing you talk about your fitness journey. Yeah.

But then they said recently you were body shamed on that one. I didn't see that. You know, it was an interesting body shame because what it was was the accusations that I got ab etching. Girl, they so suck at people. Yeah, she got the same she got the same yeah it's it's really interesting the thing is i have diastasis recti and a hernia from being pregnant so my muscles are split down the middle so i have i have this space right here and this i have like a lump because it's my intestines a hernia and it kind of looks like an extra ab randomly above my belly button.

Everybody was like, that's the proof. Like, then they were like, yes, proof because she's not super muscly anywhere else, but just her core. And one,

if you go back, like genetically, I have, my dad is super buff. Like I'm damn near built like my father. Um, and then I've always kind of had, right.

You can, you can, you can really see it. And I, um, and I've always kind of had right you can you can really see it and i um and i've always had abs and then upon like just really training my core to like make up for the fact that i my muscles aren't connected and i have to get my core together to be able to do anything because it's the center of everything i have to go a little hard on that and i honestly thought it was hilarious and then people just being like, is that a man? And I was like, do you want me to be?

Jesus. Would you like me to be? But what I love is you didn't get mad and go get online and start going crazy back and forth. It doesn't do anything. I used to do that a lot, and then you just realize there's crazy shit every day. People talk about some new shit the next day.

I remember when the internet used to destroy me like it you what i remember the other day maybe last week somebody might have tweeted like oh like y'all don't call kehlani dirty and she has tattoos and someone said oh you must be new here and everybody was like yeah because 2016 to 2018 that that was it. Everybody was calling me ugly, dirty, everything. And I used to be, what? I was fucked up about it, like, consistently. And then I just got to a point where I was like, well, life kind of goes on. And, like, I know myself. And, like, there are people that know me and love me deeply and care about me.

You know you wash? Hello. Yes. If you guys would like to come to my house for a week and double check if i shower twice a day and the levels of aftercare like that's on you guys but you know you don't have you can't prove those things to people people who already want to be like that are going to be like that regardless are you still on social media you got off because of that no i had got off for a second i actually didn't have twitter for two years i just

got back on because it's just why'd i get back on i haven't been on in six seven years it's not good for my mental oh it's a terrible place it's a terrible place but my the people that i need to speak to my fans once i learned how to really put blinders on and not theoretical blinders but like actual blinders to be consistently like this is what matters and these are the people that love me. It's been the best thing in the world. Sometimes I have my moments. Someone yesterday said some shit to me. Like, I think Kailan is confused about her sexuality.

And I was like, I've been exclusively dating women for three years. And like, the music's really gay, but sure. And then somebody was like, how am I confused? I think I'm the least confused I've ever been. But like, sure. I left the tweet up for 10 seconds and deleted it. You know, you have your moments. Yeah.

How did your record label, and I guess just the industry period, react to your advocacy for Palestine? You know, I think we're in kind of a loop for so long of like what's safe to speak about and what's not safe to speak about especially with the powers that be being so powerful and that running so deep obviously my music came out and obviously i'm super supportive so absolutely no problem from my record label um i have experienced a lot of pushback i've experienced a lot of loss i've experienced a lot of things that were promised and set up for this rollout and album to happen that were supposed to be a lot of firsts really yeah magazines and and these things and and those have brand deals and opportunities that were sad to lose but at the end of the day like i don't i don't regret doing something that i i can go to sleep at night i can go to sleep knowing that

like what i learned to be as an artist i I'm aligned with. Because I grew up fully understanding, you know, the role of art in liberation. And that's not to place myself in alignment with, you know, those artists and those revolutionary acts, but that's to say, like, I understood what it meant to not be silent. Even if I never, you know, put it with the song and the video, even if just me speaking out, I always knew what it meant to have a platform

and that responsibility in that way. And I can go to sleep knowing that I can look myself in the mirror and know that I did the right thing. Do these magazines and stuff tell your people why? Do they say you always heard advocacy of Palestine? Those are really big buildings with a lot of people involved. So it always makes its way back. Now you speak clearly. Hold on.

You also mentioned that your advocacy for Palestine caused a lot of artists to ignore your collaboration so i was talking very fast on a live very caffeinated early in the morning and i wasn't able to like really elaborate on that there are a lot of more people involved on artist teams than just the artists and it also wasn't every single feature there were certain people who didn't get it back in time or it wasn't aligned with like the timing of their album i didn't mean every single artist but there were artists that i did reach to and someone on the team was like we don't fuck with her or they said this and then another thing made its way to me or like a nut like things you we know we know things travel we know people have conversations and those people have conversations and people were respectful enough to not you know text me back and say girl fuck you I'm a Zionist

you know things like that but I wasn't able to really elaborate that when I and I would never I would never sit here and name names because it's not about that it's more about how insidious these the industries are and that we can be so afraid to lose what we've built because so many of us have come from nothing to where we have this scarcity mindset of like, I have to protect what I have going on so hard that I will do anything to stay in that world to protect it because I have to keep feeding my family.

I have to keep building my legacy. I have to do that. I don't want to chance that. And it's sad because that does get dangled in front of our faces when it comes to really important political matters that people don't align with it's sad it's unfortunate and i don't i'm not mad at anyone i'm not holding anything against anyone i was definitely on that live like yeah and by the way let me tell y'all about

but i definitely have those moments where i'm like this shit is fucked up but typically i'm a i'm a longer thinker and i have more to the thought and it was just unfortunate really so you understand when artists don't want to speak out about political or social issues or how do you feel about it especially coming from a particular background I am the type of person that is very nuanced

I understand how people got to most things it's unfortunate I feel like it's unfortunate. I am saddened by it. It does make me sad because I really do believe in our power as people with influence. This is why the presidents involve music artists. What?

They've got all type of music artists campaigning for the presidents. They bring us out to sing at all the campaigns, all the events, whenever there's anything going on, they want us to all get together and drop a song for it. Like they keep showing us how powerful we are. There's people, there's a younger generation who don't know what a policy is, but they would,

they know their rappers, favorite songs. They know their R&B singers, favorite songs, and they will learn about anything going on in the world. If their favorite person tells them, R&B singers favorite songs and they will learn about anything going on in the world if their favorite person tells them and I may have expressed it super like angrily every single time I've talked about it online but that's because I understand that also sometimes shame works as

a teacher so if I gotta come on there and say fuck all of y'all because wake your ass up if you want to sit and have a longer conversation with me, we can get to this point. But it has made me viscerally angry so many times to feel like, look what we could do. And they also wouldn't be able to hold us back anymore if we all banded together. They can't cancel all of us. They could cancel me and they'd be like, okay, we got somebody out of here. That's cool. They could cancel the couple of people that speak up. But if everybody spoke up, that power imbalance wouldn't exist anymore.

We're just the people united. That's the quote. So we have to like stand on that. And you raised over a half a million dollars for Gaza, Sudan and the country. Do you think money is the only way people can help? Absolutely not. I think in every single issue, the idea is that you're supposed to listen to the requests of the people at the core of the issue you're supposed to abide by the request of the most oppressed and they have asked us to literally speak like that's the thing about this whole like social media doesn't do anything speaking doesn't do anything awareness doesn't do anything but those there are people in Congo who are just saying make our stories heard there are people in Sudan who go, just speak about us.

They're not talking about us on the news. They're not talking about us in these magazines. They're not talking about us anywhere. But you guys are. Gaza opened the door for people to even be aware of Congo and Sudan on a global scale because those issues have preceded this genocide. Those genocides have been happening. Those famines, that extreme displacement,

those have already been existing. And Gaza has opened up the world to Haiti, to Yemen, to all of these places that all this is going on. So the least we can do is share things here and there. And you don't have to have money, but if you do, you should put it where your mouth is for sure. I was going to ask, with Kamala Harris being from your side of town, did y'all ever have a conversation?

Did you ever reach out to her for everything that's going on? Not at all? No. I'm not really big on presidents or their folks. Not a governmental girl, really. Yeah. Like, there's not really, I mean, there's power in government, but the real power is with the people.

It's in the people. Absolutely. Yeah. You are a West Coast girl. It is. Oakland girl. Yeah. What you think about Kendrick's

I knew where this was going. I just want to I'm too cute. Yeah. Who was rooting for Drake? Crazy. Who was rooting for Drake? What?

What was you rooting for Drake? I haven't publicly rooted for anyone. No? But have you not seen me at the club dancing and not like us? I heard you humming earlier in the hall.

You was humming Oh, you could hear me through the soundproof door? Oh, okay. You see what they're trying to pin on me in Israel? It's amazing. How does he hum that one? I drop and give him the music.

I very much respect both artists. Drake actually named my album, It Was Good Until It Wasn't. He showed me a lot of love over time, like publicly, privately. So has Kendrick. He named that album? He did. We were having a conversation and I told him what I wanted to name it. And then he was like, no, what's going on in life?

And I told him and he was like, and I was like, yeah, it was honestly, it was good until it wasn't. He was like, if you don't use it as your album title, I am. And I was like, okay, right, you're right. It is a very Drake album title. I think it came down to, if I'm on some West Coast shit, I'm from the West. Like I know how important this unity is of all of us

and I know how imperative this representation of us is. Like, I love Kendrick. That's the only artist I've ever stood in a line and, like, waited to get something signed for when I was in high school. Like, it's soundtrack to my life. So I have no, like, personal entrances in anything. I'm just, as a fan of the music. What section is rapping?

West, big West, West, West, West, West, West. Just musically, though a fan of the music. What second is rapping? West, big West, West, West, West, West, West. Just musically, though. Yeah, just music. I mean, we have to respect what we saw. We saw it. He's been making fun of us beige people ever since, though. Oh, my God. Hilarious.

So, listen, when you sing Not Like Us, do you feel bad because it's so catchy? I have had moments where I was, like, in the club and I seen that it's a club thing and i was like damn this is crazy but i also remember every single big diss track in history being able to be played for massive groups of people gathering and it being a thing that everybody is like i was too young for like the ether era but like everybody talks about it and they're like this was crazy like this this is in the club every night though ether wasn't in the club. It was more like, yo. I mean, Back to Back was in the club. Back to Back was in the club. Yeah, so it's eras.

It's moments. Honestly, I'm not in hip hop, so I can't speak to the sport of it. But, like, it's a sport, I guess. You ever text Drake, like, yo, man, you did your thing. Nothing to be ashamed about. It was all good until it wasn't. No, I feel like he has real people around him who hold him down. And I feel like it's taking that moment to be like, hey the way let me make sure you know i support you yeah he's got his folks damn you mentioned um a tour

are we getting a crash tour absolutely i made this album two tours specifically like there were so many sounds where i was like this is gonna be so fun to sing it's gonna be so fun to dance to it's gonna be so fun to play with a band so absolutely well I think for me touring is the epicenter of my like my career to the point where sometimes you don't even see you can't even really tell what's going on with the music streaming and charting wise people are like what and then you come to the tour and it's these huge venues and people are like I actually had no idea because when I look at how it's doing over there and it's just a classic example for me of like impact versus you know numbers and my shows are huge my shows are a blast everybody has a great time everybody feels safe everybody has fun like that that is what's important to me so we're gonna do it again

for sure that's what's up because by then I would have my baby and I can get high you miss it very much okay I'm not like you I'm gonna smoke yeah that's good I'm trying to I'm starting to get off the backwards movement with all the friends take care of yourself like no plant-based medicines um i like cbd a lot i like mushrooms i ate a lot of mushrooms making this album you might could tell there's some trippiness on here yeah that one that you played me oh my god which one it was oh my god it sounds like a oh my god it sounds like if we was what i want no it wasn't there next to you i don't know but he had played it and I was like damn if I sure am I probably be like after I was going crazy no not after I was I can dance to that one but this

one just seemed like there's some trippy one so I have no idea I forgot but he um he was playing it playing the whole album earlier but it was one particular song I was like oh yeah I'm gonna get can't wait to get out of listening to that I was probably on mushrooms when I made it for yeah are you are you aware of like the journey in life that you're going through? And if so, what era would you define this era? So comparatively to where I was at with my last album, I feel like my last album I had the ending of what was like toxic positivity and like toxic spirituality like almost psychosis-y being like really in my like and not accepting that also what comes with that is like they're really getting into your shadow and really getting into also like every single part of myself and now

I'm in this I feel like this era is just really standing in it. I feel like I'm down to be whatever everybody thinks I am. For the first time in my life, I'm not over here trying to prove anything different. I'm not over here, like I don't care to clear up anything. I don't care to address anything. I have nothing to say about any of that. If you think I suck, let's do it.

If you think I'm a terrible person, let's do it. If you think I'm the best person in the world, thank you. I appreciate you. And I think that that truly speaks to what you were saying about how different I feel is that I'm settled in a way where I'm so at peace with who I know I am and my core foundation that it's not going to be rocked by anything else going on. I love that. Damn, Kay. Great answer, Kalani.

Thank you. Well, the album Crash is out now What you wanna hear? Don't say After Hours We played that already So what you wanna hear besides that? Play Deep Deep?

That's a fun one Deep? Alright well let's get into Deep right now Make sure you pick up the album If you haven't got it already And congratulations on everything Thank you I love the fact that you just happy

You just look happy That's the most important thing I'm happy that you are in a place of peace Thank you I'm super happy Well it's Kalani ladies and gentlemen That's the most important thing. I'm happy that you are in a place of peace. Thank you. I'm super happy. Well, it's Kalani, ladies and gentlemen. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up in the morning.

The Breakfast Club.