After fan-proclaimed Lesbian Jesus Hayley Kiyoko blessed us with hits like “Girls Like Girls” and “Gravel To Tempo,” she finally released her inaugural album Expectations yesterday. While Expectations includes 12 bops and an album overture, Hayley teamed up with fellow queer queen Kehlani, who graced us with “Honey,” to create a song that’s particularly mindful of what it’s like to be a woman who loves other women.
While Hayley and Kehlani kept this revolutionary song collab a secret from their fans, “What I Need” might be the best surprise feature ever. The music video is equally as noteworthy because it shows the realistic expectations of what it’s like to be a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. Rolling Stone reports that Hayley directed the music video herself, which makes the story behind the video even more personable.
The video opens with a prelude, where Kehlani’s character is seen arguing with her aunt, who apparently doesn’t want her to hangout with Hayley. As the two are arguing, the aunt in the video aggressively asks Kehlani’s character, “Why did you turn out this way?” This strikes dozens of nerves, especially if you’ve opened up about your sexuality or identity to a less-than-supportive family member or friend.
As the argument escalates, Kehlani’s character yells back, “Can’t I just be me?” Needless to say, this sets an empowering tone about embracing your own definition of your identity—which is repeated throughout the rest of the video.
During the opening dialogue, the aunt also says, “You don’t even know who you are,” which isn’t a significant quote until you put it into context with a scene that takes place later on.
Beyond using the video to showcase how a healthy same-sex relationship can grow and evolve, Hayley’s video also makes some subtle, but necessary, commentary about inclusivity within the LGBTQIA+ community. Apart from watching Hayley and Kehlani’s characters fall in love and openly embrace their coupledom, Hayley included some important motifs about bisexuality—which is often erased or misrepresented in pop culture (and in real life).
After Kehlani and Hayley’s characters drive off together on a cross-country journey to be unabashedly themselves, their car breaks down (which could signify a break or hardship in their relationship). The duo sneak into the back of a truck—however, once the owner of the truck finds them he eventually lets them ride with him to their destination.
Although Kehlani’s character goes with the man, Hayley’s doesn’t. This scenario might seem like an inconsequential detail in the video’s plot, but it implicitly explains Kehlani’s character’s sexuality. Because Kehlani’s character foregoes spending time with Hayley’s to be with the vague man driving the truck, this draws a common comparison to bisexuality. Based on the man’s flirtatious behavior toward Kehlani’s character, this indirect correlation between bisexuality and this character’s experience is all but solidified.
Seeing as bisexual people are attracted to more than one gender, this scene illustrates an accurate representation of bisexuality. Granted, Kehlani’s character doesn’t stay with the man in the truck, as she eventually realizes her love and admiration for Hayley’s character and literally runs back to her.
Because bisexual people are often mislabeled as heterosexual when they’re in a different-sex relationship, this imagery shows that despite their relationship, bisexual people are still queer. While this scene combats the negative and unnecessary gatekeeping of bisexual, pansexual and omnisexual people, it ends with an adorable kiss between the characters. This directorial decision is especially important, given Kehlani’s presence in the video and her feature in the music.
Although Kehlani has opened up in the past about her bisexuality, last month, Kehlani clarified her sexuality in a tweet stating that she’s queer. Her powerful tweet about her queer identity opened up a mindful discussion between Kehlani and her fans, which ultimately transformed into a vital lesson that bisexual people are rightfully apart of the queer community.
Clearly, this song and the subsequent music video is what we need, especially since Pride Month official kicks off tomorrow. It’s safe to say that we’ll be watching Hayley Kiyoko’s unequivocally queer music video every single day (and sing-sobbing along to every line and every verse).
Hayley Kiyoko’s debut album Expections is out now, and you can listen to it on Spotify.