Ella Mai

Born in London in 1994, Ella Mai grew up between England and New York before returning to the UK as a teenager — a background that shapes a songwriting approach positioned between British R&B and the American tradition. After a notable appearance on The X Factor as part of the trio Arize in 2014, Ella Mai moved to a solo project and released her first tracks online, until producer Mustard discovered her and signed her to his label 10 Summers. Based in Los Angeles, she then built a repertoire of contemporary R&B characterized by supple vocal lines, often carried by slow or moderate tempos, melodic choruses and an aesthetic that extends the soul and R&B heritage of the 1990s and 2000s. This phase took form with the EPs Time and Change in 2016, followed by Ready in 2017. The song "Boo'd Up" from this sequence helped her reach a wider audience prior to the release of the album Ella Mai in 2018. She continued with Heart on My Sleeve in 2022, in a continuity where the ballad, the slow jam and pop-R&B remain central to her musical identity.