Kehlani, After Hours | Song Review 🎵

Grammy-nominated R&B artist Kehlani delivers a pleasant, sexy pop-oriented R&B single with “After Hours.”

In her first single of 2024, “After Hours”,  Grammy-nominated R&B artist Kehlani collaborates with a team of writers: Alex Goldblatt, Cordel “Scatta” Burrell, Daniel Upchurch, Diovanna Frazier, and Khristopher Riddick-Tynes.  It was produced by Goldblatt and Riddick-Tynes. A terrific groove is established at the onset.  Notably, “After Hours” samples “Coolie Dance Rhythm” by Cordel “Scatta” Burrell.  Fun fact: “Coolie Dance Rhythm” was also sampled in the 2004 Nina Sky hit, “Move Ya Body”. With an electrifying instrumental supporting her, Kehlani brings the heat.

First and foremost, Kehlani serves up clear, sexy vocals. She never over-sings, maintaining a cool, calm, and collected approach.  Lyrically, “After Hours” isn’t deep or transcendent, but it is enjoyable. “We don’t gotta take it slow / I’ma hit the gas if you’re ready to go,” she sings in the first verse, adding in the second, “We ain’t even know they turned on the lights / We missed the last call ridin’ on a high.” Ooh, we! The ‘non-verse’ sections of “After Hours” encompass a refrain, pre-chorus, and chorus, as well as a bridge that appears following the second chorus.  The section to beat is the tuneful chorus:

“Why don’t you stay?

Stay here after hours

I know you don’t wanna leave

Stay here for after hours.”

All told, “After Hours” is a pleasant, well-rounded, and sexy, pop-oriented R&B cut. Kehlani delivers a song that is a surefire vibe.

Kehlani // “After Hours” // Atlantic // 4.4.24

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Atlantic; Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]