Inside Kehlani's tinnitus diagnosis and how they're helping others
Credit: Brianna Alysse
About four or five years ago, singer Kehlani noticed a ringing in their ears. At first, they didn’t think much of it, but then it began to affect their sleep. Being in a silent room was unbearable.
Eventually, Kehlani, who uses both they/she pronouns, received a medical diagnosis: tinnitus, a condition marked by noise heard in one or both ears. Tinnitus is common; according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) about 10% of the U.S. adult population has experienced tinnitus lasting at least five minutes in the past year. People who work in noisy environments are especially vulnerable to tinnitus, and for some sufferers, it can cause mental health issues and emotional problems.
“It definitely made me feel crazy a couple times, but … it’s actually diagnosable, which gave me some relief,” Kehlani told Calm. “There [are] ways to deal with it.”
One treatment recommended by experts is listening to ambient noise. So, Kehlani, whose new album, “Blue Water Road,” drops April 29, has curated a new soundscape with Calm to help others who have tinnitus.
“Soundscapes specifically helped me with my tinnitus because it literally is the only way that I can sleep,” they said. “It's the only way that I can walk around my house [peacefully].”
The singer opened up about their diagnosis, how they’ve learned to live with tinnitus, and what to expect from their new music.
How did you feel when you noticed the ringing in your ears?
I just thought it was spiritual. … I thought everything was spiritual and it couldn't possibly have been medical. But I also wasn't surprised when I found out that it was tinnitus because I played in a band for so many years and had been in the studio for so many years and had in-ears for so many years. A naturopathic doctor diagnosed me based on my symptoms.
Did you consider how tinnitus might impact your career?
Definitely. It could get worse and I could eventually need further help, or I could eventually experience just a major form of hearing loss, which, God willing, I won't. Definitely thought about that multiple times, but it just makes me cautious of the situations I put myself in. [For instance] I remember to bring earplugs in certain environments or not to turn my in-ears up all the way to 100 level when I'm on stage.
What is the experience of being a musician who has tinnitus? What should other musicians know about tinnitus?
Other musicians should definitely be made aware of tinnitus at all times. I feel like it's a constant thing that we're either in a studio that's at 100 level volume or our ear packs are turned up all the way or we're in the car and we're bumping music and it's turned up all the way. But we can't do music if we don't have our ears, so we just need to be cautious over the way that we take care of them.
What impact has tinnitus has had on your mental health?
Tinnitus had a just – annoying impact on my mental health for awhile. I think that it was just bothersome to always [ask], 'Did you hear that?' … Even when I was taking my driver's test and it was quiet in the corner of the DMV that I was in, I literally was in the corner, like this [puts her hands to her temples] like, ‘Please.’
You have been very open about your mental health battles. Why is it so important to you to speak out? What responses have you received?
I'm just a transparent person, and that's how I move. That's how I operate in life. I think I've always been like that. But I can't ignore that I've gotten a lot of people thanking me for something that felt normal to me. I think that's just the artist's job in life. I think that we are supposed to alchemize things we go through and put it out there and hope for the best. It’s for us, but ends up, in the future, being for everybody else. … I’ve always been outspoken because I need to be there for myself.
How is your mental health now?
My mental health is great. I'm in the best place I've ever been. I'm really healthily detached from the internet, the outside world, [and] my career. I'm only tapped into the part of it that I need to be, which is the actual crafting of it. I'm feeding my interest. I'm not thinking about the business side of it. I'm just living and living in it, which is great.
What do you do to protect your mental health?
I don't have a f—ing Twitter, OK? No, I'm just kidding. What do I do to protect my mental health? [laughs] I try to just pay attention to how I'm actually feeling versus kind of which way the world is swaying. It can just get hectic, and you can be a little confused on how you actually feel because the world is going one way. But I really just try to tap inward and focus on myself and my family and my friends and the things I like to do. And stillness, quietness. I think all that’s really important.
How do Calm’s soundscapes help you?
The reason that I love this app so much is because it has such a wide variety of things that I can choose from. Soundscapes especially help me with my tinnitus, but also helps me when I need to soothe my child, when she needs to go to sleep, when I need to cool the energy down of the house, when I need to take a drive. [Sometimes] I don't necessarily want music, but I want something that feels atmospheric. Soundscapes can completely shift stressful situations. I really like “City Rain” and “Coral Reef.”
How has Calm helped you in your mental health journey? Has it helped you with tinnitus?
Yeah. Calm has helped me a bunch with my mental health journey, whether it’s guided meditations or it's information that I can pick up, or it's even just like branching out and learning new forms of meditation or new forms of self-care rituals. … I really like the “Bedtime Body Scan.” and Tamara Levitt is awesome, of course. The sound baths are, too.
You have a three-year-old daughter, Adeya. How has tinnitus impacted your life with her?
My daughter definitely had to get used to there being sound all the time, but we have been sleeping with soundscapes since she was born. We had these like internal womb sounds playing and then we graduated from that to ocean sounds and went to rain sounds. And the funny thing is, now my daughter knows when it's time to go to bed, because she'll be like, 'Oh, it's rain sound time?’ It's pretty hilarious.
Congratulations on your new album. What do you want your fans to know about it?
I want y'all to know it's not a f—ing healing album! I'm just kidding. I want my fans to know that it is as fun as it is pretty. There are a lot of pretty and quote unquote spiritual moments, but there's also a lot of fun [elements] and just some jams. And I want people to feel good listening to it. There isn't anything on there that is heavy or dark. Everything is really light and fun, and that's just where I was at with it. And I hope you feel that way when you listen.
This is such an exciting time for you. How would you describe where you are in life right now?
I'm really in the life part of my life, if that makes sense. I feel like this part of my life has a lot to do with, like, my nine-year-old self. And my nine-year-old self is getting to exist in a way that she didn't get to exist even when she was nine, but she's rocking right now.
… Man, I'm just happy to be here. I'm really happy to be here.
Kehlani has curated a unique soundscape on Calm to combat tinnitus. The soothing rocky beach soundscape has emphasized low-end and wash from the ocean waves to help combat the ringing.
Check out Kehlani’s new album Blue Water Road out now.
The Calm app offers guided meditations, mindfulness programs, breathing exercises, and bedtime stories that can help you unwind. Feel better, inside and out.
