Kehlani On What It Likes To Be Young, Queer, Bi-Racial & Struggling With Mental Health
In honor of Pride Month, PAPER Magazineinterviewed Kehlani who is an outspoken queer artist that constantly uses her platform to uplift the LGBTQ community and raise awareness of the harsh reality that Black trans and queer people have to face.
Kehlani is a person that has no filter for her passions and thoughts, but she sometimes has to take a step back when speaking about topics, such as race and sexuality, because she is aware of the way that she is presented to the world.
She describes herself as, "a non-Black passing and Hetero passing person." She always holds herself accountable for her posts that may have been received in a way she hadn't intended. With her empathy always at the frontline, she learns from her fans and is extremely mindful of everything she says to steer clear of verbally causing harm or offending anyone.
"I have to check myself with when I do give information. I'm a bisexual woman who has been with men, and a lot of queer women are sensitive to that. I'm a mixed woman who is white presenting at times, and a lot of black people are very sensitive to that so I'm sensitive to that. And I'm a person who has mental health issues, but I live a 'stable life' in the eyes of a lot of people, so I have to be careful when I'm speaking on that."
The 23-year-old hit the R&B scene in 2014 with her debut project Cloud 19. To some listeners, the image behind the voice where delicate, rasp, and power meet came as a surprise. The colorful tattoos wrapped across her body, piercings galore, and her face tattoo of a paper airplane was a juxtaposition of the warm honey of her voice.
Her unconventional look has led her to become the target for judgment and interrogation-esque questions. In high school, she fell victim to being more masculine in relationships with a woman and more feminine with a man.
"I feel like I had to define it: I had to be gay or straight. That was a big thing I went through for a long time. I was really butchy in 11th and 12th grade because I just felt, if you like girls, this is what you're supposed to look and dress like. I wasn't comfortable with my feminine side. I was definitely like, 'If I'm touching a girl, she's not touching me back because I'm the boy.'... I only wore snapbacks, and it was really intense."
"Once I really understood that if someone likes me, they like me for all of me, I started being myself depending on how I felt that day, not based on who I was dating at the time."
With breaking down the rules and labels placed on queer women, Kehlani learned to become more comfortable with her feminine side, which is why we now see her killing fashion events with a beat face in designer dresses and six-inch heels, most recently the 2018 CFDA Awards with her now signature yellow.
She even made changes to her original PAPER cover shoot to show the soft, vibrant, and beaming light of a person she is that an outsider from first glance may not have gotten to experience. For Kehlani, fluidity means exactly that: being fluid. And her queerness doesn't place her in anyone's box.
"Why wouldn't I take such a great opportunity, which is an article to express my queerness and my fluidity, and allow the images to put me in that box? It's not going to help anyone reading this understand fluidity. It's not going to educate anyone on me, it's going to further put me in a box that I don't want to be in."
"When you truly understand the humanness of queerness, there are no rules to this shit."
Her journey of embracing her fluidity and femininity has further immersed her into the greatness that is women and her admiration for them that she loves to share to the world through her music, most notably with her anthem "Honey". (Real fans know it all started with "First Position").
"I was blown away with my first encounter with a woman. It's one thing to really know yourself and know how you react to things, but when you first start to understand and love a woman, you really almost get intimidated with how epic a woman is."
For more of Kehlani's PAPER feature for Pride Month, find the full article here.
Featured image by Jeff Kravitz/AMA2017/FilmMagic for dcp
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Ngozi Nwanji is from Silver Spring, MD and is currently a senior majoring in journalism at Temple University. Her passions include writing, Issa Rae, and music, especially 90s R&B.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LISTÂ HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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ItGirl In Motion: Alicia Scott Is Bringing The South To The Forefront With Her Inclusive Beauty Brand
Meet Alicia Scott, CEO and founder of Range Beauty and "ItGirl from the South." Alicia is one of the many faces on xoNecole's inaugural ItGirl 100 list in partnership with Hyundai. In the limited video series "ItGirl in Motion," she describes what she thinks an ItGirl is.
"I believe being an ItGirl is always staying true to yourself no matter what. No matter what the trend is, no matter what people are saying across social, whatever is viral, you're staying true to your values, your morals, and your own standards and you set the tone always," she says.
Alicia personifies ItGirl, especially as a business owner. Her company, Range Beauty, targets those who are often underrepresented and gives them the opportunity to feel seen. "To start an inclusive beauty business, it means you're taking on an entire world. You're doing something that a lot of people unfortunately don't think is necessary," she explains.
She even includes a personal note with each package to echo further the importance of making customers feel included. "Every time an order goes out, we include a personalized note from me saying, 'I'm with you, I feel you, I see you, and you're never forgotten with Range,'" she reveals.
ItGirl In Motion with Alicia Scottwww.youtube.com
Being a beauty brand from the South, Alicia is also filling in spaces that other brands have often ignored. Range Beauty is based in Atlanta, Georgia, which is considered a major hub in the South. However, she says that the beauty industry often overlooks this region. "To be an ItGirl from the South is incredible," she states, "especially because beauty is so underrepresented here. A lot of brands overlook the audience and customers here, especially within the Black community. Honestly, raising my brand from here and putting the South on the map when it comes to beauty has been such a treasure."
Get to know more about the beauty boss in the video above.
See our ItGirl 100 list in full here. Click through the gallery below for some BTS moments of Alicia and our partnership with Hyundai.
Director: Mikkoh @mikkoh
Production company: @polly___studio
Producer/AD: Samuel Cho @choboi90
Producer/Tech: Paul Nguyen @paul__winn
DP: Cristian Bernal @cristianbernal
Editor: @30inthemorning
2nd Cam: Paul Nguyen
1st AC: AJ Paug @ajpaug
Gaffer: Dennis Albert @dennisalbert_
Audio Mixer: Victor Chavez @vic_the__
PA: Rick Carreno @ispeakrick
PA: Tiffany Do @tivani.doee
BTS Photo: Alisa Seripap @alisaseripap
Car Detail: @sud_studs
@slugglobal
Creative Director @hellobosco
Team Lead @kevingumbo3000
Project Manager @zakk_jullot
Creative Producer @iamkingsheyla
Designers @miacolemxn @noelspiva
@xoNecole
Director, Integrated Marketing @_vang
Campaign Manager @kingchachiii
Talent Lead @kaylawalker
Feature image Alisa Seripap