Kehlani hasn’t let up this year, and now that she’s released a new album a few months ago, she’s getting ready to deliver a mixtape.
The Oakland native announced on Instagram on Wednesday, August 21, that While We Wait 2, the follow-up to 2019’s While We Wait, will be out on August 28.
She also revealed the cover image, which shows a very subdued, thoughtful Lani on the same pattern background as the original tape.
Check out the cover below.
Last month, Kehlani gave a sneak peek at the tape when she shared an image of a diary with the words “While We Wait 2” scribbled on it to her Instagram Story.
The singer’s fourth studio album, Crash, was released just two months ago in June. It comes after Blue Water Road from 2022, which had Blxst, Thundercat, Justin Bieber, Syd, Jessie Reyez, and Ambré among others. In its first week of release, the album sold 22,000 album-equivalent units, debuting at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.
Kehlani has made mention of working with Russ on an album before that.
HipHop-N-More posted video of the two in 2021, when they were seen at a club, discussing ideas for a potential record.
In the video, Lani stated, “I just told Russ I would make an album with him in the club.” Russ answered, “Listen, hold her accountable, because I doubt it.”
The video appeared on X (previously known as Twitter) when HHNM shared it. In a since-deleted post, Russ answered to the tweet with the words “Russ x Kehlani project” and a pair of eyes emojis.
Even though it didn’t work out, this wasn’t the first time the two had proposed a project.
Russ had already considered working with Kehlani back in 2020, but his plan included more players than she did. In an interview with Ebro Darden on Beats 1, he discussed why releasing an R&B follow-up would be a wise decision following his solely rapped CHOMP EP, which was released in November 2020.
“I may need to bring five songs, featuring Keyshia Cole, Kehlani, and Ari Lennox, with no rap whatsoever,” Russ said to Ebro. “And you just place that next to CHOMP and say, ‘Enjoy,'”
