Kehlani, the 30-year-old Oakland artist known for their neo-soul and hip-hop bangers, won the first two Grammys of their career last night. They\u2019re also receiving attention for their spirited public rejection of Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s actions in the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While accepting the first of their awards last night \u2014 best R&B performance for \u201cFolded\u201d \u2014 the first song of their career to reach Billboard\u2019s Top 10<\/a>, Kehlani spoke out against ICE well before several other bigger names would do the same, including Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope everybody\u2019s inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what\u2019s going on, and I\u2019mma leave this and say \u201cFuck ICE,\u201d\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Kehlani, wearing a sheer black gown by Valdrin Sahiti embellished with a white pin reading \u201cICE out,\u201d also spoke out against ICE on the red carpet. \u201cWe\u2019re too powerful of a group to all be in a room at the same time and not make some kind of a statement in our country,\u201d she told the Hollywood Reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n The pin, part of the Be Good-ICE Out campaign honoring Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and other Americans who have been harmed by ICE actions, was worn by other artists, including music legends Joni Mitchell and Carole King, young superstar Olivia Rodrigo, Mexican-American artist Becky G, and Brandi Carlile, Finneas, and Eilish.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kehlani went on to win a Grammy for Best R&B song, also for \u201cFolded.\u201d In that acceptance speech, they thanked their mother for adopting them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou could have done whatever you wanted in your 20s, but instead you chose to take care of me, to put me in all the programs and all the things that would feed who I am today; so mommy I owe you everything,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Kehlani attended the Oakland School for the Arts in the 2010s before transferring to Berkeley High. While in high school, under the name Kehlani Parrish, they performed in a band called Poplyfe, which reached the finals of NBC\u2019s \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent.\u201d At the time, judge Sharon Osbourne said<\/a> the singer had a \u201cstar quality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The artist, who has said they\u2019re Native American, Filipino, Black, and white, has previously spoken out against violence by immigration enforcement agents as well as against the war<\/a> on Gaza by Israeli forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a video in 2024 for their song \u201cNext 2 U,\u201d the phrase \u201cLong Live the Intifada\u201d appeared, which some Jewish people claimed was antisemitic, though the phrase \u201cintifada<\/a>\u201d is seen by many Palestinians as a call for non-violent liberation. As a result of that video, some of their concerts were canceled<\/a> or protested by pro-Israel advocates.\u00a0<\/p>\n In reply to the cancellation of a headlining gig at Cornell, Kehlani said they were not anti-Jewish, but instead were against the \u201cgenocide\u201d of Palestinians.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am anti an extermination of an entire people, I am anti the bombing<\/a> of innocent children, men, women. That\u2019s what I\u2019m anti,\u201d they said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other artists also called out ICE at last night\u2019s Grammys, including Bon Iver\u2019s Justin Vernon, who told Variety that he was wearing an orange whistle on his tuxedo to support the people of Minneapolis, who have used whistles to alert immigrants to the presence of federal agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA week ago, when Alex Pretti was shot and killed in the manner he was shot and killed, I was pretty sure I didn\u2019t have the strength to come out here to L.A. and be a part of all this,\u201d Vernon said to the entertainment magazine<\/a>. \u201cThen I started seeing the people coming together in Minneapolis and organizing without a central government. I saw them being dissident. I just want to honor them and amplify what they\u2019re doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n On their official Instagram account, Kehlani shared videos<\/a> of other performers calling out ICE from the Grammy stage.<\/p>\n Another Oakland musician made a Grammy appearance. Raphael Saadiq, the brother of D\u2019Wayne Wiggins, performed during a memorial segment for Wiggins, D\u2019Angelo, and Roberta Flack.<\/p>\n “*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n \t