On May 8, R&B artist Kehlani released her second studio album, “It Was Good Until It Wasn’t.” It is her first full-length record since her 2017 debut “SweetSexySavage.” Three of the promotional singles, “Toxic,” “Everybody Business” and “F&MU” were released in March and April. They were accompanied by “quarantine style” music videos that were filmed in Kehlani’s home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The album is distinguished by its tough and honest subjects, heightened by Kehlani’s chillingly vivacious voice. It opens with the dark and sexy “Toxic.” Salacious lyrics mix with a slow and addictive bass line and invites you into a world where you want to know the secrets of toxic relationships. The third track, “Bad News,” similarly explores commitment issues with lyrics that Kehlani intones like a lullaby. The song finishes with an elegant piano outro.
The first three tracks seamlessly interweave poignant content in a strong progression. However, the songs start to sound the same by the fourth song. This is a major downside to Kehlani’s work. For an album composed of such risqué tracks, it begins to lose power without offering any variety or risk.
Despite the musical conformity in the opening songs, the album continues to showcase Kehlani’s emotional maturity with impactful tracks like “Water” and “Change Your Life.” The track “Change Your Life” features singer Jhené Aiko, whose soft vocals complement Kehlani’s fast-paced chorus to create a colorful and lustful narrative.
The album hits a snag around the eighth and ninth tracks. With “Everybody Business,” Kehlani brutally deconstructs the pressure, hate and stereotypes towards dating in the music industry. However, the lyrics feel disconnected from the instrumentation. Her soulful insistence, “I beg you, don’t listen / I beg you, just hear me,” doesn’t align with the acoustic guitar in the background, as if the track was produced using two different songs.
“Hate the Club” was my least favorite track. At almost five minutes, it’s the longest song on the album and is far too slow and repetitive for that amount of time. Gradually layering vocals at the end doesn’t make up for the redundant chorus, “Maybe if I drank enough / I’ll make my way over to ya.”
The inconsistency continued with “F&MU” and “Can You Blame Me,” both of which fell flat lyrically and rhythmically. By now, the album has lost the oomph that was promised with “Toxic,” as if Kehlani was winding down from the initial energy.
The album doesn’t pick up again until the impassioned and heartfelt “Grieving.” With its lingering grooves, we’re brought back to the slowness of “Toxic,” but this time with an entirely different message. Lyrics like “Now all I want is peace and quiet / For peace of mind, yeah / Peace and time… While I’m grieving us” showcase a sense of isolation and the need for distance, themes that are disturbingly relatable right now. Singer James Blake lends his vocals and starts a conversation that enhances the hazy and illusory atmosphere of the song.
One of the strongest songs to me is “Open (Passionate).” The track begins with an upbeat melody before shifting gears around the 2:40 mark to explore the second half of the song’s title—passion. This duality highlights Kehlani’s fluid understanding of sexuality and celebrates distinct qualities in relationships.
“It Was Good Until It Wasn’t” takes you through the highs and lows of a life filled with love, sex and mistakes. Through her lyrics and clever production, Kehlani demonstrates emotional intelligence and intricate experimentation. Although the lack of clarity and intriguing beats in the songs sometimes show that the 25-year-old is still relatively new to the industry, there’s no doubt Kehlani is quickly becoming an empowering voice in reimagining the R&B genre.
