I chose to recreate the album It Was Good Until It Wasn’t by Kehlani because it represents the situation that everyone is going through right now. Our lives were going well and considered normal until the outbreak of Covid-19, and now, staying home, social distancing in public, wearing masks, and the increase of washing our hands are the new normal. No one expected for 2020 to be so horrible with all the events happening such as the death of Kobe Bryant, Australian wildfires, explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, rapid spread of Covid-19, etc. However, Covid-19 directly effects me, not allowing me go to school, to the supermarket, to travel, or even visit my family who lives far away.

The wall in the album cover that Kehlani’s looking over is a metaphor for everyone looking towards the future and hoping that a vaccine can be found. What’s significant about her album is that the back cover ties in with the story she’s trying to tell. Kehlani responds to a press release by saying “It’s a tale of perspective. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, but clearly something has gotten my attention. Paired with the back cover, we come into the question of is the grass really greener on the other side? Good things are good… until they aren’t. Then, were they ever really good?” Looking at the front cover, we see that the other side of the wall is all sunshine and rainbows, but take a look at the back, and you can see that the setting she’s in is the opposite. The wall acts like a barrier, which in this case, is the coronavirus, preventing us from going back to our everyday lives. On our side of the wall, we are still quarantined and witnessing the growth of cases and deaths. In contrast, other countries already went through stricter Covid rules and as a result, they no longer have to be in quarantine. Some might say that these countries would represent the positive side of the wall, but at the end of the day, there is still no vaccine to the disease. Looking at the bigger picture, the light on the other side of the wall would represent our normal lives that everyone long to return to.

Not only is this album very symbolic of the changes our world is going through today, but it helped me get through quarantine as well. The world behind her represents the negative things going on in our heads, making us have trouble getting through this year. However, the positive side reminds us to keep looking ahead and to not lose hope.

Kehlani’s Album – It Was Good Until It Wasn’t