Ella Mai Howell (born 3 November 1994) is an English
R&B singer-songwriter. Her musical career began at London's
British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the
11th season of The X Factor. In 2015, she released her debut four-track solo extended play (EP), Troubled in October of that year. The EP and her performances on social media were discovered by American record producer
DJ Mustard, who signed Mai to his record label 10 Summers Records, an imprint of
Interscope Records.
Ella Mai was born on 3 November 1994 to a
Jamaican mother and an English-Irish father[5] in
London. Her mother, a lover of American
jazz music, named her after
Ella Fitzgerald.[6] Mai moved from London to
New York City at the age of 12 when her mother took on a teaching job there. Mai's transition to life in New York City was difficult because she was often bullied for her accent.[7] Mai graduated from
Queens High School of Teaching in
Glen Oaks, Queens, before returning to England aged 17.[5][8]
Career
Ella Mai's singing career began studying at the
British and Irish Modern Music Institute London (BIMM London) in 2014. During that time she competed on
series 11 of The X Factor as part of a trio, 'Arize', but didn't advance beyond the initial audition for the judges. The group broke up shortly thereafter.
2015–2019: Self-titled debut album
In 2015, Mai uploaded a four-track solo EP of original recorded songs to
SoundCloud titled Troubled. After its release, Mai was discovered on
Instagram and signed to American hip hop producer
DJ Mustard's label, 10 Summers Records, which operates as part of
Interscope Records.[9] In February 2016, she released Time, the first in her EP trilogy. The six-track EP included the single "She Don't", which featured Mustard's frequent collaborator, singer
Ty Dolla Sign.[10] She released her second EP, Change, in November 2016 and third, Ready, in February 2017.[11] "
Boo'd Up", which was featured on the EP, rose in popularity on social media as well as in nightclubs over the next few months.[12] Ella Mai toured with
Kehlani on her
SweetSexySavage World Tour.[13] After Mai served as the opening act on
Kehlani's tour, her music reached a bigger audience and the song grew on radio airplay in the spring of 2018.[14]
On 26 April 2018, she released a music video for "
Boo'd Up" after it started to gain popularity.[15] The song became her first top ten song in the US in the following month, deeming it her "breakthrough hit."[16]Rolling Stone wrote that the single is "one of the biggest singles by a breakout female R&B singer in the past 10 years."[17] The single peaked at number five on the US
Billboard Hot 100,[18] and broke the record for the most weeks at number one of any song by a woman on the
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.[19] On 14 August, she joined
Bruno Mars on the
24K Magic World Tour after
Cardi B dropped out.[20]
On 3 August, she released the single "
Trip", with an accompanied music video releasing on 18 September.[21] The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ella Mai released her
self-titled debut album, a 16-track set featuring "Boo'd Up", on 12 October 2018, with guest appearances from
Chris Brown,
John Legend, and
H.E.R.[22] The album sold 69,000
album-equivalent units with 17,000 coming from pure sales.[23] On 22 October 2018, Mai announced her debut tour set to begin in January 2019.[24][25]
In November, she made two guest appearances on
JID's song "Tiiied", along with
6lack and on
Meek Mill's song "
24/7", on the albums
Dicapiro 2 and
Championships respectively. On 18 November, she performed on Saturday Night Live with
Jezebel describing Mai as "Pure '90s R&B Heartthrob".[26][27]
Mai was also nominated for two
Grammy Awards:
Best R&B Song and
Song of the Year with "
Boo'd Up", winning for the former.[28] "Boo'd Up" would go onto to win the 2019 Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Song.[29] In 2019, Mai won the
Billboard Music Awards for Top R&B Artist and Top Female R&B Artist.[30]
Apart from her music, Mai also performed a sketch on
Nickelodeon's All That (which aired on 27 July 2019) called "Boo'd Up", a paranormal parody of The Dating Game, in which she played herself as a contestant looking for a ghost to haunt her family home, but instead of choosing the three suitors offered, she chose her former ghost who came back and she forgave him.[31]
On 2 October 2020, Mai released the single, "Not Another Love Song".[32] On Friday, 28 January 2022, she released "DFMU". On 28 March 2022 Mai announced the title of her second studio album Heart on My Sleeve which was released on 6 May 2022. the album debuted at number 15 on the
Billboard 200 making it her second top 20 on the chart.
Artistry
In multiple interviews, Ella Mai names
Lauryn Hill,
Chris Brown,
Brandy,
Destiny's Child,
Alicia Keys, and
Mariah Carey as her biggest influences.[33]Vibe said her "perception of the powerful emotion is kindred to R&B heartthrobs of the '90s, who flooded the radio airwaves with soulful ballads, baby-making tunes, and heart-wrenching break-up anthems."[34]Rolling Stone described her sound as "a British émigré full of self-confidence and an affinity for classic Nineties
R&B."[35]
Discography
Studio albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales, and certifications