The two-time Grammy winner announced her self-titled fifth studio album will arrive April 24, her 31st birthday, following the runaway success of her Billboard Hot 100 hit Folded
Kehlani announced Tuesday that her fifth studio album, titled Kehlani, will be released on April 24 via Atlantic Records. The date is not arbitrary. It is her 31st birthday, a choice that frames the project as something more personal than a standard release. The singer shared the news on Instagram, signing off the post which she captioned K5 a subtle acknowledgment that this is her fifth studio album overall.
In a follow-up post, Kehlani noted that alternate-cover exclusives would be available until noon ET on March 20 through her official website, giving fans a narrow window to access limited edition versions of the packaging before the offer closed.
The album arrives described as capturing Kehlani at her most honest, blending confessional storytelling with the layered, genre-stretching sound that has defined her place in contemporary R&B. Themes of love, transformation, vulnerability, and growth run through the project, according to materials shared alongside the announcement.
Folded set the stage for everything that followed
The timing of the announcement comes off one of the most commercially and critically successful periods of Kehlani’s career. Her 2025 single Folded became a defining hit, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the top 10 on the Hot R&B Songs chart. The song’s slow-burning intensity sparked a viral challenge that drew contributions from Brandy, Toni Braxton, Mario, JoJo, Josh Levi, and Jai’Len Josey, each recording their own version.
In February, Kehlani won her first two Grammy Awards, taking home best R&B performance and best R&B song for Folded. The wins validated what the song’s streaming numbers had already suggested: that Kehlani had delivered something genuinely resonant, not just popular.
Performing Folded live has presented its own challenges. The song travels through a wide vocal range with very little room for breath in the lead, and Kehlani has spoken about the work required to deliver it without vocal support in the moments that matter most. She has described finally finding her footing with it after working through the difficulty night after night on tour.
A second single, Out the Window, also preceded the album announcement, giving fans two reference points for the direction of the record before the full project was revealed.
A career built across five albums and over a decade
Kehlani’s path to this moment stretches back more than a decade. She first came to public attention as part of a teen pop group that competed on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ placing fourth in season six. After leaving the group, she self-released two mixtapes, Cloud 19 in 2014 and You Should Be Here the following year, building a devoted following before signing to Atlantic Records.
Her debut studio album, SweetSexySavage, arrived in 2017 and established her as a serious force in R&B. Since then, she has accumulated over 20 gold and platinum RIAA certifications, tallied more than 5 billion streams, and received seven Grammy nominations. Her most recent studio album before this announcement, Crash, came out in 2024 and included the Grammy-nominated single After Hours. A mixtape titled While We Wait 2 followed shortly after, featuring Lucky Daye, Lil’ Mo, and Vince Staples.
In September 2024, Kehlani launched a global tour in support of Crash that ran through March 2025. The self-titled fifth album now represents the next step in a career that has shown no signs of losing momentum.