Kehlani

Kehlani – Kehlani: B-Side Breakdown 79 (C+) from 6 critic reviews.

Album cover for Kehlani by Kehlani
Released April 24, 2026
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Kehlani

Kehlani

79
B-Side BreakdownGrade C+ · 6 critics · 83% approval
B-Side Breakdown79Grade: C+
Approval83%5 of 6 critics scored it 75 or higher
DivisivenessBroad agreementHow close the scores are: most critics land within 12 points of each other

Early reviews. Critics give Kehlani an early B-Side Breakdown of 79 (C+), from 6 reviews so far. It will settle as more outlets weigh in.

The verdict on Kehlani

5 of 6 critics liked it, and they mostly agree.

020406080100Clash: 70Beats Per Minute: 76Pitchfork: 78Soul in Stereo: 80NME: 80The Line of Best Fit: 90 Breakdown 79
The gist
The Line of Best Fitby Sophia Simon-Bashall 9/10 90 2022 “Kehlani explores spirituality and sensuality throughout Blue Water Road”
Soul in Stereo 4/5 80 Apr 24, 2026 “Kehlani Kehlani (released April 24, 2026) Ever since we hit 2010, and R&B hit a creative wall, every few years when a new artist gets a little buzz and significant…”
NME via Wikipediaby Kayleigh Watson 4/5 80 Apr 23, 2026 “On her self-titled fifth album, the unshakeable R&B titan that is Kehlani ushers in a new era and finds security in her own skin.”
Pitchfork via Wikipediaby Alfred Soto 7.8/10 78 Apr 28, 2026
Beats Per Minute via Wikipediaby Mary Chiney 7.6/10 76 Apr 27, 2026 “Music News, Reviews, Interviews, Videos and MP3s”
Clash via Wikipediaby Shahzaib Hussain 7/10 70 Apr 24, 2026 “Self-titled albums are often a inflection point, the transition from a bankable artist to a mononymous superstar enshrined in a package that says: I’ve”

Kehlani in Kehlani's catalog

75SweetSexySavage (2017): 7575While We Wait (2019): 7979It Was Good Until It Wasn’t (2020): 7777Blue Water Road (2022): 8282Crash (2024): 7272Kehlani (2026): 7979This one2017
Kehlani's albums by B-Side Breakdown, in release order. Above the dashed line, most critics liked it. Every Kehlani album, ranked

How these critics usually treat Kehlani

  • Clash Harsher than usual11 points below the other critics here. Usually 8 points above on Kehlani's other albums (3).
  • NME About usual for them1 point above the other critics here. Usually 5 points below on Kehlani's other albums (3).
  • Pitchfork About usual for them1 point below the other critics here. Usually 3 points below on Kehlani's other albums (5).
  • The Line of Best Fit About usual for them13 points above the other critics here. Usually 12 points above on Kehlani's other albums (4).

More from Kehlani

See all Kehlani albums ranked

More R&B & Soul from around 2026

Would you spin it again?

Be the first to answer. Results show once 3 listeners weigh in.

How the Breakdown works

Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.

A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.

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