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Kehlani Mr Carmack All In Cover Art
Kehlani Mr Carmack All In Cover Art

Mr. Carmack & Kehlani Go "All In" For A Brilliant New Single

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.

This one is just ridiculous. Soulection standard-bearer and future-R&B hero Mr. Carmack has just linked up with the captivating and ever-rising Kehlani to create "All In," a hypnotic new single that might very well be the strongest effort either party has ever put forth. A broad, slithering bass underlines everything, giving Carmack just the right amount of motion needed to push us over an edge into an expanse of synthesizers and crackling snares--a long fall in slow motion that goes by blissfully, almost forever.

But it doesn't, because Kehlani is there to catch us. Despite her voice's smoothness, the singer somehow carves out ample space amidst Carmack's cascades, delivering a love letter to a newfound beau that hinges on that critical halfway point between holding back and fully committing to love.

"Whatever he wants to do, I trust Carmack 100 percent," Kehlani said during the recording sessions for "All In." "I feel like my music is really reflective, directly, of my life," she continued. "It's a self-healing thing. Instead of crying, we're making music...you hear the mental breakdowns in the song." The duo rode waves of inspiration into the studio, apparently making the entirely record the spot, and the process was captured on camera.

At a time when so many tracks by progressive R&B artists come off as gorgeous but ultimately disposable, "All In" feels different--perhaps because it's a song that truly feels, and along with Ta-ku's recent single "Love Again," might serve as a sign that those amidst Soulection clique and its tributaries are pushing their craft up onto a new plane of pathos and refinement. Listen to "All In" below and prepare to be taken to another place.