I recently came across Hypebae’s list of 10 Female Artists You Need to Follow in 2018 and through it I discovered my latest R&B/Soul obsession, Ella Mai.
Rolling Stone also had their ears out for this talented songstress when they listed her on their 10 New Artists You Need to Know describing her sound as “A British émigré full of self-confidence and an affinity for classic Nineties R&B.”
For those of you unfamiliar, Ella Mai is a London born, now LA transplant, who caught the attention of DJ Mustard with her videos singing on Instagram and he wasted no time signing her to his label 10 Summers.
Since then, Ella has released 3 Eps, Time, Change and Ready but the song that introduced me to this young talent is her latest single “Naked” which I’ve had on repeat literally since I heard it, it already inspired my latest IG caption so that’s how you really know I’m feelin’ a song- IG caption & story stamp of approval. (lol)
The combination of Mai’s soulful vocals and 100% stripped down, raw lyrics makes “Naked” one powerful song that will resonate not only with the ladies but anyone who is yearning for that unconditional, unapologetically genuine love.
“Take away the big shirts, the tattoos, the sweatpants and Vans
Okay, I don’t wear no makeup, no purse in my hands
My resting bitch face is mistaking for the mean girl
But what if I told you
There’s nothing I want more in this world
Than somebody who loves me naked
Someone who never asks for love
But knows how to take it
Are you that somebody
Who sees a wall and breaks it
Are you ready to fight just to see what’s lost behind my flaws
Can you love me naked
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah
Naked
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah
Naked”
Social Media really is the plug now a days for artists to put their talent out there for the world to hear/see and be discovered.
I really need to put my spare time to good use and dive into SoundCloud and other platforms to put myself on to new artists because the fact that I’m just now hearing Ella Mai’s music makes me realize I’m missing out on some good music out there by just listening to the mainstream which lets be honest…is not all that impressive right now.
As for Hypebae’s list, I feel like they could have sprung for lucky #11 by adding R&B enigma H.E.R to it. The popular site had H.E.R on their Five Female Artists to Watch in 2017 list as well as Ella Mai but I feel the sultry vocalist deserves to be included on 2018’s list as well because she is one hell of a singer with lyrics to put you in your feelings with a quickness so if you haven’t heard her music already, do yourself a favor and get up to speed on her SoundCloud page.
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