Kehlani says social media makes her more precious releasing music

Kehlani has admitted that the noise on social media makes her more ‘precious’ about releasing new music, adding that she has to let online conversations about her songs “cycle out”.

Speaking on Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie this morning, the singer explained how instant fan reactions to her snippets and releases affect her mindset as an artist.

Shayna Marie asked if she ever feels nervous putting out a snippet before finishing a song, noting how honest Kehlani’s fans can be online.

Kehlani said: “I think any artist is really precious about what they put out. To the point where, like, when I’m going to press the button when it’s time to post, I’m putting my phone down and run away! Because y’all tell me, ‘I’ll look in a day.’”

She went on to describe how social media reactions can change dramatically over time, saying: “I watch people respond to this and be like, ‘She’s dropping a sex bop. It’s a summer bop that’s a sex song! She’s giving us a nasty bop for the summer! It’s going to be cute!’

“And then the song drops, and they’re like, ‘You tricked us, and we hate it! And this is a breakup song!’ And then, literally, like clockwork, two weeks later, there was like a, ‘It’s cracking in here, I can’t stop listening!’”

Kehlani concluded that although conversations are louder than ever because of social media access, she has learned to step back and let fans’ opinions evolve naturally.

“People are really able to express things more than they ever were able to express, because of so much access to social media. So, conversations are just a lot louder than they used to be, and you just kind of got to let those conversations cycle out.”

Kehlani is currently promoting her latest music releases, including the song “Folded,” which she teased online before its completion.

Tune into Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce & Shayna Marie weekdays from 6:30am-10:00am, also available on the Global Player app.