Kehlani
Kehlani Ashley Parrish was raised in Oakland, California, where an aunt's household immersed her almost entirely in R&B and neo soul, and she first performed as a teenager in the local group PopLyfe before going solo. Her breakout mixtapes 'Cloud 19' (2014) and 'You Should Be Here' (2015) and the 2017 debut album 'SweetSexySavage' established a confessional, groove-forward contemporary R&B built on breathy vocals, rap-sung phrasing, and candid songwriting about love, queerness, and mental health. Across the 2010s and 2020s she has been one of the genre's defining younger voices, bridging neo-soul warmth with modern, minimalist production.
Kehlani has repeatedly named Lauryn Hill among the artists she grew up listening to in her aunt's house and counts her as a formative influence — she has a Lauryn Hill tattoo — and the debt shows in the way she folds rap phrasing into a sung R&B melody and keeps the songwriting raw and confessional.
listen forPlay Hill's aching, gospel-inflected 'Ex-Factor' next to Kehlani's 'Gangsta' — both bend a sung line toward rap-like cadence and lay bare a vulnerable, almost pleading devotion to a difficult love rather than dressing it up.
Kehlani cites Erykah Badu alongside Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott as one of the neo-soul women she absorbed early, and the influence surfaces in her laid-back, groove-forward phrasing and earthy, conversational delivery that sits back inside the pocket rather than pushing on top of it.
listen forCue Badu's loose, jazzy 'On & On' before Kehlani's 'Nights Like This' — both let the vocal ride unhurried behind a mellow, late-night groove, phrasing casually around the beat instead of hitting every downbeat.
Kehlani is frequently linked to Aaliyah as an influence, and the connection is audible in her cool, understated, breathy vocal approach — restraint and negative space over showy runs — floating over spare, syncopated modern R&B production.
listen forSet Aaliyah's whispery, rhythmic vocal on 'Are You That Somebody?' against Kehlani's 'Distraction' — both keep the singing soft and unhurried over a skeletal, bass-and-space beat, letting the gaps carry as much of the groove as the notes.