“I’m too much of a woman, too much of a woman, too much of a badass bitch / Too much of a boss, baby, it’s your loss / Now you gotta live with it,” she sings on standout “ Too Much.” Kehlani was older and more sure of herself on SweetSexySavage this assurance persists in her 2019 mixtape While We Wait, where songs like “ Morning Glory” and “ Love Language” find her confidently expressing what she wants.
The former, her 2017 debut album, told similar tales of romance and self-love but from a more mature and unapologetic attitude. The earnest and relatable songwriting that made You Should Be Here such a success has only gotten stronger with her subsequent releases, SweetSexySavage and While We Wait. The mixtape appeared on a handful of 2015 best album lists, and even received a nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards. You Should Be Here went on to become Kehlani’s breakout moment. We got a lot of violence, but I think there’s more heart to it.” “Oakland’s its own little planet in the Bay,” she said in a 2015 interview with Skee TV. It’s a brief but notable moment that highlights her relationship to Oakland, something she discussed frequently in interviews following the release of You Should Be Here. Oakland girls so damn hood but we’re so damn pretty Said it’s something about my city, something about my city The only moment where she does acknowledge her hometown roots is on “ Runnin,” in which she sings the following in the track’s first and only verse: Songs like “ Wanted” and the Chance the Rapper-assisted lead single “The Way” find the Oakland singer rejoicing in the thrill of romantic relationships, the latter track becoming one of her most popular songs to date.Īlthough it’s not overtly expressed throughout the album, Oakland is the backdrop for You Should Be Here. However, that doesn’t mean the artist isn’t hopeful about love and the euphoria that can come with it. She’s been through too much to have anyone - especially a man - diminish her greatness. It’s a line that’s direct in its delivery, as well as a reminder of how far Kehlani has come in championing for herself. “Too damn strong to let you get the best of me / took way too long to find the light inside of me / fuck all these niggas,” she sings on the latter track.
She airs out her grievances with trifling ex-lovers on back-to-back songs “ Jealous” - which features her late friend and rapper, Lexii Alijai - and “ Niggas.” But the mixtape also showcased the young artist’s ability to candidly speak on themes of heartbreak and romantic relationships, too. Navigating life amid tragedy and triumph is a focal point for You Should Be Here. On You Should Be Here, she expresses the resentment she felt toward not having her mother on “The Letter.” Her songwriting shines on the track as she sings, “And every girl needs a mother and damn it I needed you / Instead, you ducked for cover and ran from the truth.” Kehlani’s unflinching admission of feeling abandoned by her mother is felt even more by her audible crying, as if she’s confiding in the listener as a longtime friend. Written and released when she was 19-years-old, You Should Be Here showcased her ability to tell tales of self-realization in a way that was charming, candid, and vulnerable, propelling her career as an R&B singer and helping to solidify her as one of Oakland’s most promising stars.ĥ YEARS OF YSBH! HISTORY! 🎂 glory to God forreal 🧡 Released five years ago this week, You Should Be Here served as the follow-up to the singer’s 2014 debut mixtape, Cloud 19. I added the mixtape to my library and spent the rest of my high school days drowning in the project. I saw myself in Kehlani: a young woman sitting at the edge of the world before her, ready to face what’s ahead. I had just subscribed to Apple Music when I came across its illustrated cover art - Kehlani overlooking her Oakland hometown and the Golden Gate Bridge as a plane flies above in the distance, the then-teenage singer surrounded by her essentials: a pair of Vans Sk8-Hi’s, an open laptop, and a MIDI controller. Kehlani’s second mixtape, You Should Be Here, dropped when I was in high school. Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage You Should Be Here showcased Kehlani’s ability to tell tales of self-realization in a way that was charming, candid, and vulnerable.
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