Mahalia

Mahalia extends the traditions of British soul and American neo-soul through precisely crafted songs that convey profound personal reflections and relatable observations. The singer and songwriter entered the recording world in her early teens after already drawing major-label attention. She began her professional trajectory on Asylum, which released Diary of Me in 2016 and the more distinctive Love and Compromise in 2019, the latter reaching the U.K. Top 30. After the Isolation Tapes EP in 2020, Mahalia shifted to Warner Music, the home of the Letter to Ur Ex EP in 2022 and the open, candid IRL album in 2023. The Take a Daytrip collaboration "Life Size" surfaced in 2024.

Born in Leicestershire, Mahalia Burkmar grew up as the child of musicians, with her mother performing in Colourbox around the 4AD group's 1982 debut and her father touring alongside Erasure; she began composing songs and playing guitar before her teenage years. Burkmar attracted major-label interest by age 13 and issued her initial collection, the independent Head Space EP, in mid-2012. After completing school and refining her style, she returned in 2015 on Rudimental's "We the Generation," joining the group for a performance on Later...With Jools Holland. Her second EP, Never Change, appeared that December as her first release on major-label Asylum.

In 2016 Burkmar took an acting part in the U.K. crime film Brotherhood and delivered her debut full-length, Diary of Me. She followed with U.K. festival appearances in 2017 plus several joint singles, among them "Hold On" with Buddy, the Maths Time Joy-produced "No Pressure," and early-2018's "Proud of Me" featuring Little Simz. After "No Reply," "Water," and "I Wish I Missed My Ex," she put out the five-song Seasons EP in late 2018. "Do Not Disturb" and "Grateful," together with the U.K. number-46 hit "Simmer," preceded her first album, Love and Compromise, in July 2019. Crafted with production from DJ Dahi and Sounwave, the set paired her smooth vocals with evolving romance-centered lyrics and reached number 28 on the U.K. album chart.

Mahalia joined Ty Dolla $ign on Jacob Collier's "All I Need" in 2020 and issued the three-track Isolation Tapes EP. She opened 2021 with the Rico Nasty collaboration "Jealous" and later paired with AJ Tracey on the buoyant "Roadside." A fifth EP, Letter to Ur Ex, arrived in May 2022. One year afterward, "Terms and Conditions" led the next full-length, which appeared the following July under the title IRL. The album's broader reach showed in a range of featured artists spanning JoJo and Joyce Wrice to Stormzy and Kojey Radical. Mahalia joined Jaz Karis on 2024's "Nice Girls," then released "Life Size" featuring Take a Daytrip.