It is seven in the morning, and here I am, off no sleep, writing my initial thoughts on Kehlani’s second album It Was Good Until It Wasn’t in real time. Unedited. Let’s go.

Toxic

I didn’t care much for this song when it was released. Let’s see if my feelings have changed.

Ty Dolla $ign with some background vocals? The Midas of R&B.

It’s not bad…

Can I (feat Tory Lanez)

Tory Lanez is on fire right now.

Kehlani’s talking greasily on this.

The Aaliyah nod… gold star! Great fit for Tory. This is cute or whatever.

Bad News

Nothing about this song is making me react, but it’s a chill little groove. Basic lyrics.

Real Hot Girl Skit

DING!

Water

I fuck with the name. She started out talking about Pisces, so I’m into it.

Oh yeah, I like this. The hook got that bounce bounce!

Oh nooooo, less than two minutes?! That ain’t right.

Change Your Life (feat Jhené Aiko)

Straight from talking about zodiac signs to a collab with one of the hardest repping Pisces in the industry, Jhené.

This is cool. I haven’t heard many clever lyrics on this album yet, but I’m also half asleep trying to write and listen at the same time.

Belong to the Streets Skit

The Pisces energy on this album *side eye*

Everybody Business

Good transition into this song.

“At my big ole age, I can’t be fazed”… Lol the twenties.

“Ra Ra” must be a West Coast thing.

She released this one before the album as well, and it was another one I didn’t care much for. I like it better now though. Something about a song being in the context of the album.

Hate The Club (feat. Masego)

Sax going brazy.

Oh it’s featuring Masego. Makes sense.

I feel this title so hard right now. But yknow… if the clubs were actually open. I’d probably still hate being in that bitch, even post quarantina.

This is smooth. Sounds more like a lounge than a club. Feels more like a lounge song.

I like this one. Masego is ska-ting.

Serial Lover

Sounds a bit like Case’s “Missing You”, the guitar riffs.

Kehlani is getting open on this one. She’s doing everything but dropping names.

This little hook goes hard. I can see the stans screaming along to this at her shows.

F&MU

Couldn’t sleep because this song was stuck in my head, so I decided to do this review. This knocks.

Yeah, this gets my shoulders rolling. Homegirl is talking hot shit. This is a fun song!

Can You Blame Me (feat. Lucky Daye)

Excited for this feature.

I’m not sure how to put into words what I think about this lol. A modern R&B…love? song that is not outright sexual.

Good song

Grieving (feat. James Blake)

This is giving me “Four Page Letter”, more Aaliyah influence.

Now it’s taken a spacier turn, but that’s to be expected with James Blake onna track.

This verse sticks out like a sore thumb on this album. Not in a bad way… it just sounds like nothing else going on. The bass helps blend it a little.

This is interesting. Wonder what you follow this up with.

Open (Passionate)

Weird follow up lol. I’m so thrown off.

I like this, but I feel like it’s not in the right place. Following up James Blake

A beat change. This is cool. I think the two mini songs should be reversed. “Passionate” into “Open”

Lexii’s Outro

Lexii. I’ve never heard her music before. This is a nice acknowledgement.

“Can’t nobody hold me back no more”. Felt that.

Interesting way to wrap it up. Lexii had a nice little flow. RIP.

Overall:

I don’t feel like this will be another SweetSexySavage to me, which I played in my car for MONTHS after it came out, but there is a handful of songs that could perhaps have major replay value. Off the top of my head, “Water”, “F&MU”, “Can I”, and “Hate the Club” were standouts. But there were a few more I liked.

This album is actually sexier than SSS. More scandalous. More racy! More features. It Was Good Until It Wasn’t is also the perfect description for like… everything this year.

I’m not blown away from the first listen, but I did enjoy it.

“Water” was jiggy af though, I’m going to play that again right now.