Kehlani‘s hit single “Folded” swept its two nominations at the 68th Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 1).
The nostalgic track won Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song. It’s Kehlani’s first pair of Grammys out of seven career nominations.
Best R&B Performance is awarded for new vocal or instrumental R&B recordings. “Folded” prevailed over Justin Bieber’s “Yukon,” Chris Brown‘s “It Depends” with Bryson Tiller, Leon Thomas‘ “Mutt (Live From NPR’s Tiny Desk)” and Summer Walker‘s “Heart Of A Woman.”
In her acceptance speech, an emotional Kehlani reflected on her decade-spanning Grammy journey. “My first time being nominated for a Grammy was 10 years ago to this show. It’s been a really long time and nobody that’s come along this journey I take for granted. She then went to thank her manager, David Ali, and her collaborators.”
She ended by encouraging her musical peers to band together to speak out against ongoing injustice. “Everybody is so powerful in this room, and in this room, later, and together we’re stronger in numbers to speak against all the injustice going on in the world right now,” said Kehlani. “I hope everybody’s inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what’s going on, and I’m going to leave this and say, ‘F**k ICE.'”
The Best R&B Song category is awarded to the songwriters. “Folded” edged out “Heart of a Woman,” “It Depends,” Durand Bernarr‘s “Overqualified” and Leon Thomas’ “Yes It Is.” It was written by DIXSON, Kehlani, Andre Harris, Donovan Knight, Don Mills, Khris Riddick-Tynes and Dawit Kamal Wilson.
When Kehlani returned to the stage to accept her second award, she brought her collaborators along. In her speech, she thanked her mother and her team, before shouting, “I can’t believe this. I got to take a shot out this m*****r f***a, let’s get it!”
“Folded” is the lead single from Kehlani’s upcoming fifth album, which she told Variety will release in March. It will follow 2024’s CRASH, which included her Grammy-nominated hit “After Party.”
Kehlani released “Folded” in June 2025. Since then, it has peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and, as of this writing, is still in the top 10.
