Kehlani Nominated for Grammy Alongside The Weeknd, Miguel

Oakland-bred singer Kehlani has made major strides in her career over the past year, rapidly rising from mixtape star to nationally-recognized entertainer. And now, she can add Grammy nominee to her resume. Today, the Grammy Awards announced its 2016 contenders, and Kehlani is among the hopefuls for Best Urban Contemporary Album for her release, You Should Be Here, alongside The Weeknd, Miguel, The Internet, and Lianne Las Havas. 

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[jump] Kehlani attended Oakland School for the Arts and originally got her start as part of the group PopLyfe, which placed fourth on NBC’s America’s Got Talent in 2012. After her appearance on the show, host Nick Cannon took an interest in Kehlani and recruited her to his Ncredible Entertainment, though, ultimately, Kehlani went the independent route. She joined Iamsu!’s collective HBK Gang and self-released her critically-acclaimed debut mixtape, Cloud 19. The project garnered national attention through the infectious, bubbly single “FWU.”

After a successful tour with Oakland rapper G-Eazy, Kehlani dropped You Should Be Here, which landed her the number five spot on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, a deal with Atlantic Records, and, now, a Grammy nomination.

the face you make when your mixtape gets nominated for a Grammy, sold out your Christmas show in 2 minutes and are about to hit the stage in London for night one of TWO sold out shows ending your first European tour!!!! Honestly, for every person upset at the success of me or my team, there’s 10 beautiful supportive fans just as excited to see us grow. I love every single one of you, I officially feel kind of numb to doubt at this point… I’m doing it all for my city, my family and every little girl out there who is told she can’t succeed. I’m thankful, BLESSED, to be here. THANK YOU TSUNAMI MOB, YOU GUYS HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER. BEFORE I EVEN TURNED 21. I need a box of Kleenex. #underdog

A photo posted by Lani Tsunami AKA lil’LayLow✍? (@kehlani) on Dec 7, 2015 at 10:34am PST

Congrats, Kehlani. We’ll be crossing our fingers during the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016.
 
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