Get Guardian on GoogleAfter stirring emotions with her debut single Freedom, and building momentum with the folk-leaning R&B ballad Bia in 2024, Nigerian songbird Kehne returns with two evocative new releases: Kilode and Liquor.
“I’m happy with the songs I’ve released. Each one reflects a different part of my life. The response has been good — but there’s always more to say,” Kehne tells Guardian Music, her tone rich with quiet certainty.
Produced by Shabbaproducer, both new tracks turn her lyrical gaze toward the complexities of romance — digging into the nuances of emotional toxicity, heartbreak, and surrender. Her signature soul-seeking poetry meets heartfelt harmonies that carry the weight of the stories she tells.
“I think music has to come from real experience,” she says. “Everything I write is drawn from something I’ve lived or felt — I try to be as honest as I can.”
Slated for release next Friday, Kilode and Liquor mark a bold new chapter for Kehne. The songs reflect a deeper vulnerability and sonic maturity, as the rising artist carves out a genre-bending space she calls Afro-Hypnotism — a fusion of spirituality, sensuality, and ancestral rhythm.
Kehne’s artistry fuses the timeless grace of ’90s R&B with vintage African melodies and the introspective energy of a modern mystic. Her sound traverses R&B, Neo-Soul, and Dancehall, echoing influences from Beyoncé, Onyeka Onwenu, Toni Braxton, and The Weeknd.
With each release, Kehne continues to shape a world of her own — where softness is strength, truth is sacred, and music is a mirror for the soul.
