This past summer, Ella Mai answered the phone and heard one of her heroes: Stevie Wonder was calling to tell her how much he loves “Boo’d Up,” the R&B sleeper hit that has made her a star this year. He even sang a bit of its suave, catchy hook back to her. “It was insane,” says Mai.
It wasn’t the first surreal twist in her career. Mai, who grew up in London, was raised on Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, two artists her mom played “religiously” around the house. As a teen, she went to performing arts school in New York where she focused on musical theater. Having sung since she was a kid – mostly in church with her grandma – she soon realized that she was most passionate about her voice.
The slow-burn success of “Boo’d Up” nabbed Mai a prime spot opening for Bruno Mars at stadiums across America this month (filling in for new mom Cardi B), and she’s been hard at work on her full-length debut, due out this fall — and she’s sticking with the same retro-classic Nineties soul influences that made “Boo’d Up” stand out this summer. “R&B is not dead,” she says. “We can make it mainstream again. Clearly, people love it.”
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