Mahalia Biography – (July 2017)

(Long Version - 950 words)

At 12 years old – the age most of us are aimlessly riding bikes or trying to avoid homework – Mahalia was picking up a guitar for the very first time and penning love songs. With her entrancing, soulful tones, wise yet relatable wordplay and intuitive sense of melody, it quickly became clear that she had a natural sense of musicality, and that she’d be doing this for the rest of her life.

It only took a year before she was swiftly signed to a label, but it was important for her to complete her exams and attend college first – where she studied dance – before transferring all her creative energy into one place at such a young age. “When I finished my GCSEs, I could have stopped and gone straight into music,” she explains, “but I thought, if this is what I’m going to do forever, I’m in no hurry. I wanted to take my time being a teenager – I knew that if I’d left school, I’d have completely regretted it.”

Now 19, Mahalia is ready to fully unleash what she’s been brewing into the world. In the time since she first picked up that guitar, she’s dropped a scattering of releases here and there – from 2012’s indie-flecked acoustic dream Head Space to 2015’s gorgeously understated 4- track EP Never Change – which was premiered on i-D – and last year’s genre-flipping mixtape Diary of Me, picking up praise from the likes of The Independent, MTV and IDOL mag along the way. But for Mahalia, it feels as if she’s just getting started.

In 2015, her unique voice caught the attention of Rudimental, who asked her to feature on their easy-going summer anthem “We the Generation”, pushing her name to a wider audience in the process. “I just think Rudimental are so talented…they’re so genuinely musical and vibe-y and play all sorts of instruments,” she remembers, adding: “I really loved writing my part of that track. I knew that I was going for a session with them but I didn’t realise I’d actually end up singing on the final product. It was a sick surprise.”

Her first official single, titled “Sober”, is a rich slice of R&B that recalls the likes of Erykah Badu, Sade and Lauryn Hill, but sprinkled with originality and pushed into the present day. “I’m sorry that there ain’t no time left, you and I are over, me and you are done,” she sings, her warm tones melding into the illustrious, groove-laden beat, her words hitting straight to the heart. The track is quintessentially Mahalia – encompassing the classic sounds of the past while refusing to be hemmed in by one particular genre; her open-hearted, narrative- focussed lyricism holding it all together like magic dust.

“I wrote ‘Sober’ when I was drunk after coming home from a night out,” Mahalia laughs, “I used to always be that girl who got too drunk and called the guy. Writing ‘Sober’, for me, was about being that person in the toilet crying. As stereotypical as it sounds, the lyrics are about that state of mind, and how when you wake up the next day you take back everything you said and think ‘actually, you’re a dickhead, I’m fine now... me and you are never going to be anything’. But it’s also about being drunk in love, so in that way, it’s got a double meaning.”

Growing up in Leicester as the only daughter of two musical parents and the sister of three musical brothers, Mahalia found her voice in a household that was both chaotic and highly creative. “My parents were both singers, so they would be doing gigs all the time and I used to go and watch,” she says, “and when we were on long car journeys, my mum would always play real soul singers like Tweet, Corinne Baily Rae, Anthony Hamilton, Lauryn Hill, Gil Scott and D’Angelo. Then my dad was in a band and played for people like Erasure. And my eldest brother was playing Nas, Jay-Z and Kanye West while my other brother was playing the Kooks, Arctic Monkeys and Jack Johnson – it was such a huge blend of tastes; I never heard one style.”

This unique sonic makeup, coupled with a surefire confidence in her own abilities will undeniably see Mahalia produce a debut album that is her defining artistic statement. Now based in Leicester where it all began, this is what she will be focusing on in the coming months, with collaborative material from the likes of Drake producer Nineteen85, Steve Fitzmaurice (Sam Smith's “Stay With Me”) and Grammy Award-winning producer Supa Dups (Mary J Blige, Bruno Mars, Eminem), the latter of which Mahalia recently flew out to Miami to work with. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks – I’m writing an album. That’s the next thing. By the time I’m 25, I want to at least be writing my second one,” she says. “And I’d obviously love to tour the world. I just want to be making music and to happy.”

With her opinioned attitude and passion for social issues, Mahalia is well on her way to becoming an important musical voice of a generation. “I used to hate my voice when I was sixteen, but I’ve learnt how to love it now,” she says, contemplating how far she’s come. “This sounds cliché, but it comes from learning how to love yourself; my body shape, my hair, my skin, my voice, my uniqueness. I do love it because you have to love it.”

(Short version - 340 words)

At 12 years old – the age most of us are aimlessly riding bikes or trying to avoid homework – Mahalia was picking up a guitar and penning love songs. With her entrancing, soulful tones, wise yet relatable wordplay and intuitive sense of melody, it quickly became clear that she had a natural sense of musicality, and that she’d be doing this for the rest of her life.

Now 19 and based in Leicester, Mahalia is ready to fully unleash what she’s been brewing into the world. In the time since she first picked up that guitar, she’s dropped a scattering of releases – from 2012’s indie-flecked acoustic dream Head Space to 2015’s gorgeously understated 4-track EP Never Change – which was premiered on i-D – and last year’s genre- flipping mixtape Diary of Me, picking up praise from the likes of The Independent, MTV and IDOL. In 2015, her unique voice caught the attention of Rudimental, who asked her to feature on their easy-going summer anthem “We the Generation”, pushing her name to a wider audience in the process. But for Mahalia, it feels as if she’s just getting started.

This unique sonic make up will undeniably see Mahalia produce a debut album that is her defining artistic statement. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks – I’m writing an album. That’s the next thing,” she says, “And I’d obviously love to tour the world. I just want to be making music and to happy.”