Kehlani: Photos From the Billboard Cover Shoot

It’s early afternoon on a sizzling, sticky late-July day in the hills of Topanga Canyon, high above the stretch of the storied Pacific Coast Highway that connects Santa Monica, Calif., with Malibu. But there’s a different type of warmth inside the orange-curtained cottage on this quiet, bucolic property, where a reunion between two longtime friends and collaborators is about to begin.

Kehlani and Leon Thomas — two of the hottest artists in R&B right now — immediately hug. “I get to do this with someone I actually know and love,” Kehlani says with a wide smile. Clearly relishing his role today as musician-turned-journalist, Thomas notes, “I’m doing an interview with fam so here we are. I feel like a young Bryant Gumbel.” They both burst into laughter. “Oh, you stoked,” Kehlani says. “They gave this man a mic!”

The longtime co-writers (her “Sweet Nuthins,” his “Dirt on My Shoes”), fellow Grammy winners and friends are here to talk about 31-year-old Kehlani’s sharp upward trajectory in the wake of her global hit, “Folded,” and being honored as Billboard’s 2026 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players R&B Artist of the Year. And it’s doubly fitting that Thomas, 33, is sitting in the interviewer’s seat: The “Mutt” hitmaker appeared on the cover of Billboard’s 2025 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue as the Breakthrough of the Year honoree.

Released last June, “Folded” stamped several exclamation points on Kehlani’s long-established career. Marking the singer-songwriter’s first top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 6), the single garnered two Grammys in February: best R&B song and best R&B solo performance — Kehlani’s first wins after seven nominations. Now RIAA-certified double platinum, “Folded” has become one of the most enduring R&B hits of the decade, spending an astounding 52 weeks on the Hot 100 and a record-breaking 20th week at No. 1 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Released in April, her self-titled fifth studio album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 (her fourth top 10 career entry) and No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the latter another first.

Read the full Kehlani cover story here.