I’m at that point.” It’s an understandable slow-down period. ​ “I’m trying to get through all these James Baldwin essays. “I’m trying to watch three documentaries a week,” they say. ​ “I really do.” Their biggest concern these days is more in line with a beach-bum retiree than a global R&B star: they’re trying to figure out how to fit surfing daily into their schedule. “I feel old, yo,” Kehlani says as they pick at a bowl of granola and an egg sandwich. They feel more like they’re about to turn 50. When we meet for breakfast on a Malibu pier during a balmy mid-April morning, Kehlani is just a few weeks from their twenty-seventh birthday.