Kehlani was once singing “Hero.” Now, she shares a song with one of her own.
The R&B star, 30, teamed up with Mariah Carey and Shenseea for Carey’s latest single “Sugar Sweet,” released on Friday, July 25. And as she revealed on Instagram, it’s something of a full-circle moment as a longtime Carey listener — and she’s got the video to back it up!
“nobody speak to me i got a song with the one and only @mariahcarey 🦋,” Kehlani wrote in a caption announcing the song’s release. “the earliest video of me singing and first song i ever learned was ‘Hero’ and everybody who knows me knows this is one of my heroes.”
The “Folded” singer continued, calling Carey “the definition of an icon.”
“to have given us so much, for DECADES & never fail to impress us through all the twists and turns music makes,” she added. “i am so honored and immensely grateful. there truly are no words. and Shenseea you’re an absolute BAD ASS who is right on your way to legendary status yourself. i’m happy man. #SUGARSWEET 🐑 LAMBS WE ARE SO UP 🐑”
After sharing her excitement, Kehlani then reposted a clip to her Instagram Stories of herself as a young girl singing the 1993 Carey classic.
Shenseea, 28, shared her own reaction to the collaboration on X, writing “I can’t believe I have a song with thee @MariahCarey 💕🐉 WTF!”
Before the song’s release, the three musicians also appeared in a TikTok together singing along to the new track, which marks the second single off Carey’s forthcoming LP, Here For It All.
https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf
Carey announced her 16th studio album earlier this week, following the release of her June single, “Type Dangerous.” It arrives on Sept. 26 and, as she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden, is expected to include insight into “who I am today, and the last 10 years, the last 14 years.”
Here For It All will arrive seven years after Carey’s last studio album, Caution, which featured collaborations with Slick Rick, Blood Orange and others.
While the “Hero” singer didn’t want “to tell too much about the new album” in her June interview with Apple Music, she teased the album with a lyric from her 2005 single “It’s Like That”: “It’s a special occasion / Mimi’s emancipation.”
“What is next? The album coming out. I don’t wanna tell too much about it because I just don’t want to reveal the whole thing,” she said, confirming it was “finished” and hinting at some “Mariah ballads.”
Kevin Mazur/Getty
Mariah Carey attends the Apple Music 10th anniversary celebration on June 30, 2025
Ahead of the release of her new single, Carey also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday, July 24 and opened up about the promise Rihanna made after Carey signed her breast at the final show of her Christmas Time Tour last December in Brooklyn.
Speaking with guest host Fortune Feimster, Carey called it a “unique moment” and revealed that Rihanna “said she was going to” get the signature tattooed.
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