Kehlani and Missy Elliott aren’t afraid to indulge in a little “Back and Forth” on the “Folded” singer’s sensual new single. The track from Kehlani’s upcoming self-titled album due out on April 24 is the latest preview of the two-time Grammy winner’s fifth album, the follow-up to 2024’s Crash.
It finds Kehlani in their signature lights-low R&B groove, with Elliott kicking thing off with some bold bars, boasting, “You know it’s some hot s–t/ Let me say what I’m gon’ say, let me stay on the topic/ Girl, woman, I do what I wanna do/ Why you trippin’ when I come right home to you?” over the song’s languorous beat before Kehlani steps in on the whispery first verse.
“Why you so quiet?/ The silence hit like sirens/ If looks could kill, well then, tonight might get violent/ When the fit too fire, you always get too firin’,” Kehlani sings as Elliott interjects some of her signature excitable “woo”‘s to punctuate the affair.
The pre-chorus amps up the heat, with Kehlani singing, “And by-y-y-y-y/ By doing this later, I do us a favor / And by-y-y-y-y/ Don’t ruin my makeup, be there when you wake up,” before dipping into the singsongy chorus that pays homage to Elliott’s legendary late friend and collaborator Aaliyah’s 1994 debut hit single “Back & Forth.”
“I ain’t goin’ back and forth tonight, I’m goin’ out/ I ain’t goin’ back and forth tonight, I’m goin’ out/ It’s last call, you the last thing on my mind,” Kehlani croons on the refrain. By the time Elliott gets to her verse, she’s heated when a man tries to tell her how to present herself in a sassy back-and-forth that ends with an explicit shoutout to Aaliyah.
“Ayo, where you goin’?/ I’m going out, what you mean?/ Oh, yeah, with who?/ I’m going out, I’m ’bout to leave/ And you wearing that?/ Yeah, I’m grown, not a teen/ Who you riding with?/ I’m ’bout to drop my Lamborghini,” Elliott raps. “N–ga, I ain’t doing this tonight/ I’m ’bout to drive off, oh, you mad? Yeah, aight/ You know I be home, I’ma see ya when I see ya/ All that back, back and forth got me feeling like Aaliyah.”
The new song comes after an epic run for Kehlani in 2025, which included the crossover anthem “Folded,” which landed the singer several chart milestones, with the track peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her first top 10 on that singles chart. The song also hit No. 1 on three other Billboard charts: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay. Another single released last year, “Out the Window,” reached the top 10 of the Rhythmic Airplay and Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs charts.
Kehlani will be receive the Impact Award at Billboard Women in Music 2026, which will take place on April 29 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. They will also do a special performance at the event hosted by Keke Palmer.
Listen to “Back and Forth” below.
