Kehlani is speaking candidly about living with bipolar disorder and the daily discipline required to protect her well-being.

In a revealing conversation with friend and collaborator Leon Thomas, the R&B star explained why medication, movement, faith, and time away from the studio are not luxuries for her. They are essential.

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The convo formed part of Kehlani and Thomas’ joint Billboard interview, which saw the longtime friends unpack R&B, creativity, success and wellness.

Addressing the condition directly, the 31-year-old detailed the non-negotiable practices that help her remain grounded while navigating an industry often built around sleepless nights and relentless studio sessions.

 

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“I am clinically bipolar. I’m diagnosed bipolar. I take medicine, and I am in all of my practices. But I have to do those things. I have to go to the gym. It is not an option. I have to do yoga. I have to take walks. I have to spend time in nature. I have to build a relationship with God. I have to pray.

I have to take days where I’m like, okay, I was just in the studio for five days. On the sixth and seventh day, if I don’t go sit at a park, if I don’t go wiggle my toes in somebody’s grass, I’m going to lose my mind.

You get in this cycle that people don’t think about. You wake up at 6 p.m. because you were at the studio until 7 in the morning. You’ve missed the whole day of sunshine. There’s no meal. You go back to the studio at 8 p.m. and you’re like, yeah, grind or die. But your brain cells are frying.

So I just have to have a routine that is supporting my wellness so that I can freaking survive.”

The Bay Area native first publicly shared her bipolar and borderline personality disorder diagnoses in 2025. She has since spoken about medication, therapy, and learning to recognise the patterns that signal when she needs additional support.

The openness arrives during one of the biggest stretches of her career. In February, the Oakland native won her first two GRAMMY Awards for ‘Folded’, a decade after earning her first nomination.

She is now taking the self-titled ‘Kehlani’ album across the globe on ‘The Kehlani World Tour’, which launched earlier this month and is set to reach Europe and South Africa later this year.

Her comments offer a sobering counterpoint to the glamour surrounding that success: sustaining the art also means protecting the person creating it.

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