MAHALIA
How the British singer is reviving
old-school R&B for a new era
BY BIANCA GRACIE
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JESSIE LILY ADAMS
CHARTBREAKER
STARS ALIGNED
Mahalia grew up in a musical family in the English
town of Syston in Leicestershire, 90 miles north
of London. Her mother was the lead singer in a
band; her father assisted with songwriting, backing
vocals and guitar. “I knew, even if it wasn’t going to
be singing, that I wanted to be onstage,” says Ma-
halia. She found her voice while performing at her
Catholic school’s mass and wrote her first song at
age 8. Three years later she taught herself guitar,
and in 2012, in her early teens, she released her de-
but EP, Head Space, on SoundCloud. Her account
caught the attention of Ed Sheeran, who tweeted
out the link, writing: “Let me introduce you to the
amazing talent of Mahalia.”
LET’S HEAR IT FOR LEICESTERSHIRE
Three months after Sheeran’s tweet, Warner Music
U.K. approached Mahalia. She signed a recording
contract with Asylum that year and released her de-
but project, Diary of Me, in 2016. A string of singles
followed — all prominently featuring her accent. “I’m
doing this for people who are from small places,” she
says of her hometown, which has a population of un-
der 13,000. “Everything tends to happen in London,
but it’s important to be proud of [where you’re from].”
DYNAMIC DUO
By 2018 Mahalia was performing a handful of U.S.
gigs; Ella Mai came to her Los Angeles show and
was impressed. A few weeks later, the “Boo’d Up”
singer texted Mahalia asking if she could contribute
to the rising singer’s then-upcoming first full-length,
Love and Compromise. Though the album was
nearly done, Mahalia made the time — and their
collaboration resulted in her breakout single, last
September’s “What You Did.” It wasn’t until 2020,
though, that the track started to build at radio,
hitting No. 15 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
chart. “It literally came together in less than 36
hours,” recalls Mahalia, now 21. “We submitted the
album two days later — it was a perfect accident.”
They aimed to match the energy of “The Boy Is
Mine,” Brandy and Monica’s 1998 hit. Says Mahalia,
“I wanted to bring that vibe back.”
R&BEYOND
Following February’s “What You Did” remix featur-
ing Cam’ron, Mahalia will hit the festival circuit
this year with slots at Virginia’s Something in the
Water, England’s Latitude and Montreal’s Osheaga.
She’s also focused on contributing to a fertile new
landscape of R&B artists. “We’re moving with the
times, and people are creating new lanes,” she says,
citing peers like Daniel Caesar, Lucky Daye, Summer
Walker and H.E.R. “And that should be celebrated,
as opposed to talking about what’s missing.”
WOST WAS A 15-YEAR-OLD
bedroom producer living with
his parents in San Cristóbal, a
city in western Venezuela, when
Waxploitation Records founder
Jeff Antebi stumbled upon his
music online in 2016. Antebi
was in the middle of a “deep
musical dive” and especially
curious about the underground
electronic music scene in
Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. “I
was listening to SoundCloud in
the background,” he recalls, “and
a song just kind of popped out
with a cool moombahton beat.”
Antebi promptly emailed
expressing his admiration,
and WOST, born Kelvin Ruiz,
responded asking if he would
like to buy the track outright
for $7, as he was trying to save
up $200 to buy his own laptop.
“It was painful for me to see,”
says Antebi, who founded Los
Angeles-based Waxploitation
in 1996. Antebi did WOST one
better: He smuggled him a
laptop and later that year signed
the artist-producer to a recording
and publishing contract.
Soon after, Waxploitation
helped WOST land synchs on
Showtime’s The Chi, HBO’s
Native Son, video game FIFA 20
and an adidas soccer TV ad.
Most recently, Pepsi contacted
Antebi asking if he had anything
in his catalog for an upcoming
campaign. WOST had just
finished the track “Presidente,”
a lively fusion of house music
and reggaetón with vocals from
New York-based R&B singer
Ginette Claudette; now, it
soundtracks “Play Never Stops,”
a global TV spot for Pepsi Max
that premiered Feb. 20. The
60-second commercial stars
soccer legends Paul Pogba, Leo
Messi, Mohamed Salah and
Raheem Sterling and is airing in
over 80 countries worldwide. “I
haven’t seen a Venezuelan artist
working on a scale like this,”
says WOST, now 19. “It’s a big
moment for me and my people.”
His achievements are
more impressive considering
the economic and political
upheaval engulfing Venezuela.
“Whereas other artists and
producers can work 24/7,
365 days a year, WOST often
goes a week or more with no
power, internet or phone due
to the blackouts,” says Antebi.
When the artist turned 18,
Waxploitation arranged for him
to get an expedited passport
and temporary travel visa out
of Venezuela. He now splits his
time between his home country
and Colombia, where “there’s
better infrastructure and it’s a
little safer,” says Antebi.
Currently WOST is looking to
expand his creative network; he
has collaborations with Chicago
rapper Rockie Fresh and
Dominican Republic freestyler
Mozart La Para on the way, as
well as his debut EP. “We don’t
have a lot of people trying to do
music” in Venezuela, says WOST.
“So the ones that are — like me
— are working hard. I want to
represent all my Venezuelan and
Latino people around the world.
That’s my goal.”
—RICHARD SMIRKE
A still from the
Pepsi Max ad “Play
Never Stops.”
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X.32 BILLBOARD • MARCH 14, 2020