Two years after the release of “SweetSexySavage,” Kehlani’s latest mixtape “While We Wait” released on Feb 21. The mixtape features skilled and prominent artists such as Ty Dolla $ign, Dom Kennedy and 6lack, elegantly expressing her varied feelings throughout different romantic experiences.

RELATIONSHIPS

The ultimate message behind “While We Wait” is that relationships require a lot of time, investment and commitment. “While We Wait” is yet another part of Kehlani’s discography that displays her impressive ability to include profound messages in her music. Her song “Footsteps” shows Kehlani remorse about a crumbling relationship over a soothing beat and an electronic chorus. The Oakland native continues with the hip-hop-style track “Too Deep,” which dives into her attempts to escape an empty romantic encounter. The song gives listeners a look at the inner battle going on in Kehlani’s mind. However, the track also shows that by the time she expresses a change of heart, the person who pursued her no longer holds that same interest.

The emotions take a sharp 180-degree turn in the track “Nunya,” where Kehlani disregards attempts to reform a relationship that involved a lack of appreciation for her. “Nunya” takes aim at relationships that are only motivated by monetary success and expresses Kehlani believes that those relationships are not worth pursuing.

Kehlani proceeds to pair up with R&B artist 6lack for the melodic and slow-paced “RPG” over a piano background. The song is a reference to the “role-playing” video game genre and, according to “Hot New Hip Hop,” both Kehlani and 6lack install various references to the gaming culture. Kehlani acts as the player while her love interest acts as the character. The love interest’s actions are a response to Kehlani’s statements, hence the name “RPG.”

THE SOUND

If there is anything Kehlani can take pride in, it is that she flawlessly mixes up the sound and the rhythm throughout the mixtape. She recruits a number of veteran producers, such as Hit-Boy and Boi-1da, who have produced tracks that stand as giants, such as “Goldie” by A$AP Rocky and “Forever” by Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem. Kehlani’s lyricism mixed with production from some of the most successful producers in the music industry mix together to make a fantastic mixtape.