“I think there was a long time in the industry where I didn't feel appreciated. Their track together on IRL is immaculate: it renders end-of-relationship heartbreak as easy listening. There are a few artists whom Mahalia does count in her corner as she navigates her place on the London scene. “It doesn't make sense to me because we see a lot of R&B artists with incredible numbers on streaming platforms, sold-out shows in the UK and US. “Things are not set up to enable R&B artists to be at the forefront,” she says. Earlier this year, in another tweet, she called out the Brits for combining pop and R&B into one joint category, with not a single R&B artist being nominated. She usually invites R&B singers, because she’s seen the genre repeatedly shaded by the industry. The danger with that is, how do you be timeless?”Įvery other month, Mahalia hosts Mahalia Presents, a club night in London and New York that gives rising artists a relaxed and intimate space to perform to a young, fun-drunk crowd. Essentially every song I wrote, I was getting sent sped-up versions. The biggest difference between making an album in 2023 compared with 2019, she says, is TikTok: “It’s really intimidating. She’s technically Gen Z, but all her cultural references are Millennial. “Everybody’s getting younger, everybody’s like 19 years old,” she says. “You know that I always end up hammered.”Īlthough she’s still only 25, she feels older. “I’m not drunk yet, which is good, for those of you who have seen me do this before,” she says at the end of a show in Brooklyn, in her singsong Leicester lilt. And her social feeds are filled with more jokey selfies and tipsy dancing videos than stilted brand deals.
When she sings about a cheating boyfriend, she sounds like she’s dancing around her room, not brittle with anger, stalking her ex online. She’s at ease even around her negative emotions.
The record includes tracks with Stormzy, Raye, and JoJo, but the features feel more low-key than some of her past collabs instead, it’s her own voice that reigns supreme.ĭespite the last few years, Mahalia still radiates the easy-listening energy of her early music: relaxed, loose, and effortlessly upbeat. “This album is about choosing myself and believing in myself,” she says. That album, IRL, is bookended by two songs that speak bluntly about her experience in the industry – something she hasn’t sung much about before. "It’s why you’re seeing so many more artists move toward independence and come out of label deals. “I probably won't earn any money from any of the music I’ve put out for a long time,” she says. I have never made a penny off of my own music.” (Asylum Records did not respond to GQ’s request for comment.)īut for now, in this moment, she’s ready to be honest about it. So 20% of 0.005 goes back to label to pay them back for the money they put into developing me…I’ve racked up 12 years of debt. In a viral Twitter thread a few weeks after our conversation, Mahalia will break down exactly why she feels so frustrated, claiming: “The part that ‘goes to artist’ basically is what pays back the label. However, the dwindling revenue from streaming and other sources makes this a difficult task for some artists. Often, artists in the industry are paid an advance on their earnings when they sign a deal this is then paid back to their label over time.
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