Since the attacks on Gaza have been publicized, Kehlani (she/they) has spoken out against Israel. In their new music video for “Next 2 U,” Kehlani supports Palestine further with a list of children murdered in the devastating war. This comes after multiple social media posts in which they spoke out against the genocide.
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On May 31, 2024, Kehlani released a music video to accompany their newest single from their upcoming album, Crash. The opening screen of the video reveals a poem written by Hala Alyan, who is a Palenstinian-American writer. The poem is followed by a screen with the words “Long Live The Intifada.” The message refers to the uprising in 1987.
Kehlani’s support for Palestine was demonstrated throughout the video. Several scenes depicted them standing in front of the Palestinian flag and dancers waving the flag during choreography.
Kehlani Planned To End Next 2 U With A List Of Recently Murdered Palestinian Children, But The Thousands Of Names Took Longer Than The Song
At the conclusion of the video, it was revealed that the singer and their team tried to include a list of the young lives taken in Gaza since October 2023. Unfortunately, they could not include the entire list of thousands, which would take longer than the entire song.
“We tried to make a scroll honoring the names of thousands of deceased children. The list was so long that our fastest scroll at 3 minutes was illegible. The link to the casualties is provided in the description through Al Jazeera. Please take a moment to scroll at your own pace,” the heartbreaking message explained.
After the release of the video, the “After Hours” singer took to Instagram to further explain the statement. “This was the most daunting part of the process. An 120 page word doc. at highest speed, for an entire minute, we couldn’t even make it to january. LONG LIVE THE MARTYRED CHILDREN. GOD BLESS THE CHILDREN. head to @aljazeera@aljazeeraenglish to scroll at an honorable, appropriate place/pace. we bear witness,” the caption stated.
Kehlani Calls Out Celebrities Who Haven’t Spoken Out Against The War In Gaza
The parent of one has not been shy about their support for Palestine and has called for a ceasefire several times. According to HipHop DX, just days before the release of the “Next 2 U” video, the singer took to Instagram in what seems to be a now-deleted post. The singer began by encouraging their celebrity peers to make statements about the war.
“Peers of highly f*cking platformed people, well paid people who have already beat the f**king game” for not commenting on the war and saying: “You can’t speak?! Disgusting.” They continued, “It’s f**k Israel. It’s fuck Zionism. And it’s f**k a lot of ya’ll too.”
Kehlani’s Support for Palestine Doesn’t Stop At The Music Video
The “Toxic” singer is also providing monetary support for Gaza. They posted an announcement of merch designed by a Palestinian designer in Palestine to TikTok. It was revealed that 100% of the proceeds would be going to Palestine, Sudan, and the Congo.
@kehlani i cant wait for yall to hear this song and see this video & get this merch to rep the movement while also supporting @Operation Olive Branch thank you deeply #Next2U
Kehlani also signed a letter in support of a ceasefire in 2023 and has made several posts in support of Palestine since the war began.
Watch the full video for Kehlani’s “Next 2 U” below.