Early Life
Ella Mai was born on November 3rd, 1994, in London, England. She moved to New York at only 12 years old. She stated that she felt a connection to music ever since her early childhood. She also stated that her favorite genre used to be jazz, which her mother introduced her to.
Since she was always into music and live performances, Ella enrolled in a performing arts school where she refined her love for music and dance. Even before her graduation from the program, she was very active in creating her own music. Writing songs and performing them to her friends and family garnered her the support and confidence to try and make it for real.
Career
She started her first band called Arize in 2014, with whom she auditioned for the 11th season of the popular music reality tv show X-Factor. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it past the audition stage of the program, but that was enough for them to get noticed by DJ Mustard, a popular name in the underground music scene of New York.
Ella was offered a contract with DJ Mustard’s record label, which the rising star promptly accepted. Shortly after signing for the label, she released her debut EP called Time. After the great success of Time in the underground R&B scene, Ella released more and more music as time went on.
She is best known for her song Boo’d Up which received international praise. The song not only landed her at the top spot at R&B charts but also won her a Grammy Award for Best R&B song of the year.
In the News
Mai has found herself in the news for the wholesome retelling of her phone call with the megastar, Stevie Wonder. The phone call consisted of praise for her song “Boo’d Up,” by Stevie and has made Ella Mai a respected and wholesome figure in the R&B world. She was also noticed by numerous popular artists such as Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and Quavo.
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