Ella Mai's Pre-Pandemic Success Was No Fluke

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Ella Mai burst onto the scene with her melodic vocals and nostalgic love songs like "Boo'd Up" and "Trip," quickly leaving her mark on the R&B scene. After taking a break during the pandemic, the 28-year-old hit the ground running with the deluxe version of Heart on My Sleeve, an expansion to her sophomore album she released late last year.

Coming to Revolution Live on Wednesday, April 12, Mai is taking her career to new heights and swerving on the sophomore slump label.

Named after Ella Fitzgerald, Mai has always looked up to R&B legends like Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, and Alicia Keys. "I learned to braid my hair and [play] piano because of [Keys]," she told Billboard's Tatiana Cirisano in 2018.

Her love of music continued throughout her childhood, with doing musicals and joining the church choir as her primary focus. After high school, she went on to study creative musicianship at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM Insitute), where she was able to take her music career seriously. While there, she began to explore songwriting, experimenting with love songs and slower music.

"I write in a diary every night to collect my thoughts," she told Billboard. "It's very therapeutic to song write."

She was first introduced to the public after appearing on the 11th season of the British version of The X Factor. At the time, she was part of the girl group Arize, but after the season ended, she decided to go solo.

Soon after, she began posting covers of popular songs like Fetty Wap's "679." Her efforts quickly paid off as she caught the attention of the famed record producer DJ Mustard. Her work impressed him, and he offered to fly the singer to Los Angeles to work on music together. The pair worked on multiple EPs together, including Time, Change, and Ready, which produced her hit song "Boo'd Up." She and DJ Mustard released the single in February 2017, a year before the single caught the public's attention.
"Boo'd Up" peaked at number five on Billboard Hot 100 in July 2018, spending 35 weeks on the charts. She released her follow-up single, "Trip," in August 2018, reaching number 11 on the Hot 100 a few weeks after.

In the fall of 2018, she released her self-titled debut. The album featured collaborations with acts like John Legend, H.E.R., and Chris Brown and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 album chart. The record also received a Grammy nomination for "Best R&B Album."

After her debut, fans were excited to see what was next for the starlet. However, with the pandemic putting strains on the music industry, it would be four years before she'd release a follow-up.

When talking to Complex's Eric Skelton, Mai explained that the process of creating 2022's Heart on My Sleeve was very different from making her debut. "With my debut album, the studio was still kind of a new setting to me, and working with songwriters was still new to me. So I was really just trying stuff out and seeing what works and what doesn't work. But I think Heart on My Sleeve was more so me being very sure of who I was as an artist at that time." According to Mai, this album was meant to be very personal to her and reflect exactly what she was going through at the time. She compares her songs to diary entries that bring her back to specific moments in her life.

This tour is a big deal for Mai's fans, considering it is the first time she's able to perform her music as a headliner. The tour also comes on the heels of the release of the deluxe version of Heart on My Sleeve, which includes three new songs that she describes as an extension of her emotions.

Fresh off of opening for Mary J. Blige, the tour serves as a reintroduction to Mai as an artist and a chance to explore her experiences with fans.

Ella Mai. With Thuy. 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at Revolution Live, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-449-1025; jointherevolution.net. Sold out.