HEAR THIS: Kelela

October 17. 2016 | By Dustin Ragucos

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A little warning for anyone about to listen to Kelela: if you are not ready for an R&B-laced earworm, then you are not prepared for this LA-based goddess. Her choruses knock the wind out of her audience. When she says “If I was your ex-girlfriend,” the world practically freezes for a moment (“A Message”). Moments like these are not few and far between on her EP Hallucinogen. Her beats also have an arresting quality to them, feeling reminiscent of an FKA twigs release, especially on the goosebump-bringing “Gomenasai.” Kelala can pause the world or make it go faster with danceworthy tracks that slip into your brain and stay there for weeks (“Rewind”). She is simply the next big thing in R&B.

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