There’s been a lot of talk recently about how rare it is to see albums get carefully plotted rollout campaigns, but it’s likely even rarer that artists and labels plan out extended rollouts for singles.
But that’s what Kehlani has done with her June release, “Folded.” The track was out for two weeks before the Bay Area singer shared the laundry-oriented music video, and today, she has dropped another wrinkle in the rollout with “(Un)folded,” a stripped-down reimagining focusing on her tender vocals. The new version also has its own black-and-white music video, which finds Kehlani performing the song in a laundromat, accompanied by her daughter, Adeya Nomi.
While the singer still has yet to announce a new album, she’s kept busy this year with the release and rollout of “Folded,” and got a chance to work with a legend, as well. Last week, R&B icon Mariah Carey shared a new single, “Sugar Sweet,” featuring Kehlani and Jamaican singer Shenseea. Kehlani was especially excited about the collaboration, writing on Instagram, “Nobody speak to me. I got a song with the one and only Mariah Carey! The earliest video of me singing and first song I ever learned was ‘Hero,’ and everybody who knows me knows this is one of my heroes. This woman is the definition of an icon. To have given us so much, for DECADES & never fail to impress us through all the twists and turns music makes. I am so honored and immensely grateful. There truly are no words.”
Watch Kehlani’s “(Un)folded” video above.