Ella Mai Howell is an English singer and songwriter. Her singing career began at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of The X Factor. In 2015, she uploaded a four-track solo EP of originals to SoundCloud titled Trouble, and was discovered on social media by American record producer Mustard and signed with his record label, 10 Summers Records. From 2016 to 2018, she released three EP's on the label, including Time, Change, and Ready. Her self-titled debut studio album was released in October 2018 and featured the singles "Boo'd Up" and "Trip", which were released on 20 February 2018 and 3 August 2018, respectively. In 2019, "Boo'd Up" was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Song of the Year and Best R&B Song, winning for the latter, as well as Mai herself being nominated for British Breakthrough Act at the 2019 Brit Awards. At the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, she won three awards, including the award for Top R&B Artist.
Early life
Ella Mai was born on 3 November 1994 to a Jamaican mother and an Irish father in London. According to the singer, her mother, a lover of American jazz music, named her after Ella Fitzgerald. Mai moved from London to New York City at the age of 12 and graduated from Queens High School of Teaching in Glen Oaks, Queens, before returning to England.
Musical career
2014–2017: Career beginnings and EP trilogy
Ella Mai's singing career began studying at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute London in 2014. During that time she competed on season 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. The following year, Mai uploaded a four-track solo EP of originals to SoundCloud titled Trouble. After being discovered on Instagram, she signed to DJ Mustard's label, 10 Summers Records and Interscope Records. In February 2016, she released Time, the first in her EP trilogy. The six-track EP included the single "She Don't", which featured Ty Dolla Sign. She released her second EP, Change, in November 2016 and third, Ready, in February 2017. "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. Ella Mai toured with Kehlani on her SweetSexySavage World Tour. 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.
2018–present: Self-titled debut album
On 26 April 2018, she released a music video for "Boo'd Up" after it started to gain popularity. The song became her first top ten song in the US in the following month, deeming it her "breakthrough hit." Rolling Stone wrote that the single is "one of the biggest singles by a breakout female R&B singer in the past10 years." The single peaked at number five on the US BillboardHot 100, and broke the record for the most weeks at No. 1 of any song by a woman on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. On 14 August, she joined Bruno Mars on the 24K Magic World Tour after Cardi B dropped out. On 3 August, she released the single "Trip", with an accompanied music video releasing on 18 September. 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. The album sold 69,000 album-equivalent units with 17,000 coming from pure sales. On 22 October 2018, Mai announced her debut tour set to begin in January 2019. 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". She was also nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best R&B Song and Song of the Year with "Boo'd Up", winning for the former. "Boo'd Up" would go onto to win the 2019 Billboard Music Award for Top R&B Song. In 2019, Mai won the Billboard Music Awards for Top R&B Artist and Top Female R&B Artist. In 2020, Mai received her third nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album for her self-titled debut at the 62nd Grammy Awards.
Artistry
In multiple interviews, Ella Mai names Lauryn Hill, Chris Brown, Brandy, Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys, and Mariah Carey as her biggest influences. 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." Rolling Stone described her sound as "a British émigré full of self-confidence and an affinity for classic Nineties R&B."
Acting
Apart from her music, Ella Mai also performed a sketch on Nickelodeon's All That 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.
