While We Wait

*While We Wait* serves as a tasty amuse-bouche before Kehlani’s follow-up to *SweetSexySavage*. The Oakland R&B singer sounds refreshed and fed up with the games—taking lazy lovers to task on “RPG” and “Nights Like This” (6LACK and Ty Dolla $ign, respectively, provide stinging rebuttals). Moments of levity appear in “Nunya,” which takes on exes who can’t mind their business. And “Morning Glory” is like a peak TLC track with Kehlani playing all the roles; she presents the too-real image of herself without makeup, nails, or hair done, asking: Would you still ride? *While We Wait* possesses equal measures of moxie and vulnerability, framing Kehlani as a wise young woman navigating love and life, eager to leave the past behind.

The Oakland R&B singer’s latest project is a shining example of both her emotional intelligence and her balmy, lucid songwriting.

A bold, celebratory record from the American artist

Romance is a warzone and navigating it is as much emotional labor as it is an emotional minefield.