Kehlani Gets Emotional During Career-Spanning NPR Tiny Desk Show: ‘It’s Been a Long Time Coming’

Kehlani‘s been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. After easing the audience in with the smooth R&B of “Nights Like This” from their 2019 mixtape While We Wait, the Oakland-bred vocalist — backed by a full live band and three back-up singers — told the public radio audience crammed in around her about the journey to this special moment.

“Hi everyone. Thank you for coming and tuning in to my Tiny Desk. It’s been a long time coming. I definitely know I’m overdue for doing this so thank you for making sure I was able to get here this far along in my process,” they said before easing into the 2016 Grammy-nominated jazzy slow jam “Distraction” from her debut album, SweetSexySavage.

Next up was the sexy soul burner “Can I” the fourth single from Kehlani’s second album, 2020’s It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, on which she sings, “This s–t’s so good, should be illegal/ Need round two, I need a sequel/ Hit the backboard like a free throw/ You next level, you a cheat code.” Taking a break to chat up the gathered NPR staffers, Kehlani stumbled over their words, admitting they were “naturally shy” and kind of nervous — which is why it took so long to pull up to the Desk — as they made a political statement.

“I want to take a second to say: Free Palestine. Free Congo. Free Sudan. Free Yemen. Free Hawaii. Free Guam,” said the vocalist who announced in June that she’d raised more than $555,000 in aid for the Palestinian people and citizens of war-torn Sudan and Congo with the sale of shirts from her “Next 2 U” single. “Beyond a cease fire we need an end to the occupation. It’s deeper than this. I need everybody that’s here right now, everybody that’s watching, to step up, to use their voices.” 

The set then came to close with the jaunty “After Hours” from Kehlani’s most recent album, CRASH.

Watch Kehlani’s Tiny Desk Concert below.