Kehlani reflects on Grammy win: 'it's cool to be recognized'

When Kehlani thinks back to winning a Grammy, she tells Billboard, "It was a great moment."

"For as long as I’ve been working, and as long as things have been going left, people have been telling me, 'You deserve more,'" she says. "In order to survive in this industry, I’ve stayed grounded in the idea that my purpose is my purpose, and what God has for me is for me. It wasn’t like this Grammy is going to confirm that what I’m doing has purpose, that what I’m doing is valid or God’s plan for me. But it’s cool to be recognized by an institution that has always upheld excellence."

She adds that celebrating with friends and fellow Grammy winners Leon Thomas and Durand Bernarr "couldn’t have been cooler."

"Not only for us but for R&B. It proved the worthiness of time, brick-building and development — everything that we’ve put in for the genre thus far," she notes.

Elsewhere in the Billboard story, Kehlani credited her focus on R&B to being "raised mostly on neo-soul" and loving "the range of Musiq Soulchild, D'Angelo, Brandy, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, but also Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Stevie Wonder is my No. 1 of all time."

When it comes to making her own music, though, her goal is for "people to feel warmth."

"Even if it’s a sad song. My favorite music is any song I hear that takes me back to being in my auntie’s house," Kehlani said. "It’s this certain nostalgia; this childhood thing that good music will just hug you."

Kehlani won her first Grammys back in February. She took home best R&B song and best R&B performance for "Folded."