Mahalia was having a hot girl summer ... last year. Fresh off a breakup and enjoying her single status, the singer was dating and enjoying life. She says this was the catalyst to writing, "I Wish I Missed My Ex" her 2019 song about not wallowing in grief over a love lost.
"I was just being myself, and unapologetically myself," the 21-year-old tells Teen Vogue. "I dated a little bit, and then songs were coming out. I was having kind of weird situationships with a couple of guys, and then I was just scanning a bit like, 'Eh, I'm bored of this.' Then towards the end of the summer I was like, cool I'm on my own for a bit — then I met somebody new."
Writing music since the age of 11, Mahalia (b. Mahalia Burkmar) was signed to Atlantic Records at 13, toured with Ed Sheeran, and released an EP, Headspace in her early career. In 2017, "Sober," her song about her tendency to drunk dial an ex, catapulted her to global recognition — consequently making a Colors video, becoming a top-streamed song on Spotify, and putting her in the music festival circuit. In the last year alone, she's won YouTube's One To Watch honor, been nominated for a BRIT, and toured with Ella Mai.
So when the time came to work on her debut album, Love and Compromise, Mahalia put all those experiences into one body of work. The result? An amalgamation of 90s-R&B grooves, Caribbean cadences, dynamic features, and sync-pop tracks all about relationships.
"I grew up on my dad playing reggae and then my brother introduced me to bashment," she says. "And then I went out to Jamaica and saw it. When I went to Jamaica, I understood who I was."
At 16 Mahalia met her grandmother who she became close with. Throughout the album process, she passed away, but her Jamaican roots and passion for storytelling through music infused into the album. "When it came to the album, I remember writing 'Simmer' and having the Beenie Man 'Who Am I' sample, and that, for me was a moment. That for me is so historical."
One also may say Mahalia, along with her contemporaries, is having a historical moment. No stranger to the comparisons between her and other British R&B songstresses on the Top 100 charts, the singer did not shy away from talking about the unspoken division between herself and her peers.
"No one's talking about it. Nobody is being honest about it. It's not similar at all," she says about constantly being lumped into a category of Black female artists making R&B music from the UK.
"We don't all sit together and drink wine and eat kettle crisps. I promise you. We don't. And you know what? It's like, that's the misconception that I have to say to you. Because for me, it's so frustrating. And it's frustrating when I get put in certain lists and written down with certain people. It's so different. If you asked me a question about an artist ... about a female artist, I'm going to say, 'She's doing her thing. She's great.' But that's not my friend."
Adding, "I'm tired of people coming online and acting like we're all here supporting each other. For example, Ella Mai is supporting me and I'm supporting Ella Mai. But it's that. You show love, I show love. You show respect, I show respect."
The same transparency she has about the industry is what she carries to her relationship with her fanbase. No airs, all love.
"When I was a kid, I used to go to gigs," she says about the planning behind her live show for this album tour. "And I used to see the performer and I always felt like there was a wall between me and them. I still feel that sometimes now. I just try to break down that wall so that everyone feels like they can shout things on stage."
"You see when you buy a VIP package? And you get a little meet and greet and you get a photo and the artists will talk to you for a bit? I like my shows to just feel like the whole thing is that. Everyone is VIP."
Mahalia's Love and Compromise can be heard on all streaming platforms.
