Kehlani reflects on the impact of Nick Cannon on her early career rise in a new interview with Complex, out today (April 23).
Speaking with Complex’s Jillian Superstar, the recent two-time Grammy winner, whose self-titled new album is out Friday, looked back on the period leading up to her debut mixtape, Cloud 19, and how an offer from Cannon profoundly changed her trajectory.
“Nick Cannon called and was like ‘Hey, I don’t know what you got going on but come to LA and make some music, and I’ll give you some studio time,’” Kehlani said, as seen in the full interview above. “I’d never even had my own room before.”
Asked about a “fully furnished apartment” provided to her by Cannon, Kehlani remarked that she still, to this day, passes by the residence in question when traveling to her boxing classes. She also credited Cannon with simply letting her “work on my first project,” ultimately leading to her connecting with manager David Ali.
As Kehlani explained, there are actually a number of artists who, like her, have “secret ‘Nick Cannon saved my life’ stories,” though Cannon himself is not fond of speaking about such examples publicly.
“They’ll reach out to me and be like ‘You know Nick did the same thing for me,’ and I’m like, what?” Kehlani, who also praised Cannon as a “great guy,” said.
See more from Kehlani, including her reflections on Cannon initially wanting her to join a rap group that, at least in some capacity, involved Pete Davidson, up top.
