Kehlani's break arrived during the sixth season of America's Got Talent, where her pop group PopLyfe locked down a fourth-place finish. Unfortunately, the band would derail shortly after, and the Oakland singer soon found herself homeless. Eventually, Nick Cannon came through to help Kehlani launch her music career, and the studio time he provided laid the foundation for her debut mixtape Cloud 19, which on to receive critical acclaim on the blog circuit. From that point onward, Kehlani's unique blend of soulful vocals, pop sensibilities, and swagger continued to evolve -- as did her celebrity status.
Though the increased media attention nearly proved catastrophic for the young talent, Kehlani revealed her strength by bouncing back stronger as a role model. Not long after dropping off her SweetSexySavage album in 2017, Kehlani announced that she was pregnant with her first child, a daughter. She also held it down for the LGBTQ community, openly identifying as both "queer" and "pansexual." An eclectic figure prone to marching to her own beat, Kehlani has remained an interesting figure to watch in the game, having already amassed a respectable discography to her name.