Sexiness might be subjective, but Kehlani has pretty much perfected the formula. Since their breakthrough with You Should Be Here, and subsequent projects like SweetSexySavage and It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, few artists have captured what it means to be both hot and human quite like the California-born singer.
Some of Kehlani’s sexiest moments come from the red carpet, like the “After Hours” artist hitting the American Music Awards in a sheer dress that had jaws on the floor. Others include them making out with collaborators like kwn and Kiana Ledé in the name of a viral-worthy visual. Which, yes, they couldn’t be more different, but the musician makes every kind of sexy moment their own.
In case you weren’t all that familiar with their game, Rap-Up rounded up 11 of Kehlani’s sexiest moments to date. Take a look at their award show outfits, hot-and-heavy music video moments and more below.
1. The 2025 American Music Awards
Nominated for Favorite Female R&B Artist at the 2025 AMAs, Kehlani absolutely delivered — not just on the red carpet, but in all the clips they posted from it, too — which we're endlessly grateful for. Wearing a sheer mini dress from Do Long, which boasted glistening fabric draped around their body, they ate and left no crumbs. Honestly, even if they didn't walk away with the award, this look alone deserves its own trophy.
2. Teyana Taylor’s “Morning” Music Video
The pool scene. Need we say more? In the visual for Teyana Taylor’s “Morning,” she and Kehlani go out for a late-night swim that culminates in a lot of sexual tension — all while belting out lines like, “I ain't here to play no games, I'm gonna give it to you / Just how you want it.” It ranks high on the list of sexy moments for both artists, and, as a result, continues to be one of the tracks fans can’t forget from Taylor’s The Album.
3. Kissing Demi Lovato On Tour
Kehlani opening for Demi Lovato’s “Tell Me You Love Me Tour” might have been the best thing to ever happen to their fans. During the trek’s final U.S. stop, the “Honey” singer surprised Lovato onstage with a kiss, and understandably, the crowd lost it. As if that wasn’t enough, the actress then pushed Kehlani onto a bed mid-performance before sharing an embrace.
"I don't know, we just kissed each other," Lovato told BBC Radio 1 about the moment. "It wasn't planned. [Kehlani] totally surprised me, and it was perfect. It was awesome."
4. Their “Toxic” Music Video
Like the rest of us, the Oakland native had to improvise during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdown in full swing, they dropped a lo-fi, Zoom-style video for “Toxic.” There are no frills, no big-budget production, just them in front of a laptop camera, swaying their hips and keeping us entertained at a time when none of us could really go outside.
“I put it out, just wine drunk, in the middle of the night, and things went crazy,” they told The Guardian. It turns out that self-directing the video was exactly the push their label needed to greenlight their album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t, amid so many other artists postponing tours and projects.
5. Posing For Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty
The artist literally has an album called SweetSexySavage, so if anyone was destined to be a Savage X Fenty ambassador, it’s Kehlani. Here, the singer modeled several different lingerie looks for the brand, and knowing their fanbase, we wouldn’t be surprised if they sold out that very same day.
6. Their Guest Appearance In “The L Word: Generation Q”
If you can’t get enough of Kehlani’s music, you’ll be glad to know they branched out into acting, too. The singer guest-starred in Season 3 of “The L Word: Generation Q” as Ivy, a makeup artist and young parent who, according to Variety, “heads up Alice’s glam team and falls for the wrong person.” Ivy has a steamy connection with Shane McCutcheon (Kate Moennig), and let's just say, the chemistry speaks for itself.
7. kwn’s “worst behaviour” Music Video
“worst behaviour” is, hands down, one of kwn’ most seductive tracks, so it’s no surprise its music video — specifically for the remix — is next-level sexy, largely thanks to Kehlani. Around the three-minute mark, the two lock eyes and make out for what feels like forever. The U.K. singer and director Chris Chance wanted viewers to feel “like you’re stuck in this moment,” and well, they got the job very much done.
8. Kiana Ledé’s “Ur Best Friend” Music Video
Before the whole internet lost it over kwn and Kehlani’s viral kiss, let’s not forget it was Kiana Ledé they did it with first. In "Ur Best Friend," the Grudges artist navigates the emotional mess of falling for her boyfriend’s best friend — played by Kehlani. As the lights dim and the scene fills with purple haze, they eventually kiss, only for the man caught in the middle, Vic Mensa, to walk in on them. Talk about sticking the landing.
9. Outtakes From ‘CRASH’
Though these pictures ultimately ended up as promo shots for their fourth studio album, CRASH, it’s hard not to wonder how they would’ve translated into a full music video. “Eras require patience,” they captioned the photos of themselves in a sheer bodysuit beneath a red coat.
10. The 2017 Soul Train Awards
Please take a moment to soak in the nostalgia of Kehlani at the 2017 Soul Train Music Awards. Sure, they’ve had such a major glow-up since, but let’s not overlook just how gorgeous they were back then. The While We Wait artist stepped onto the red carpet in a semi-sheer black velvet gown that accentuated their tattoos.
11. Their “Folded” Visualizer
Kehlani’s first solo single of 2025, “Folded,” perfectly sums up how we felt after checking out its visualizer. In the VHS-style clip, they lounge in the backseat of a limo, in a little black dress. Hilariously enough, the musician later had to clarify that they “never said it was a freaky song.”