Photo by Brianna Alysse for VICE
Kehlani's new single "24/7" is a powerful exploration of the unknowable frailty and strain that come with being a real live human in the public eye, where strangers hurl unkind words without a care for how they're received. "It's OK to not be OK / to dive in your pain / And it's alright to not be alright / To search for your light," she sings in the song's opening moments; "I don't know nobody who thinks that they're somebody 24/7" is the chorus. They're wise words coming from the freshly 21-year-old singer, who recently found herself in the eye of a social media maelstrom when fellow singer PARTYNEXTDOOR insinuated she'd left ex-boyfriend and basketball star Kyrie Irving for him in a revealing Instagram post. "24/7" is a wise and soulful summation of why we should mellow out and be more considerate to one another. Stream the song below.