Mahalia (English alt‐R&B/soul singer/songwriter)

Mahalia Burkmar (born 1 May 1998), known mononymously as Mahalia, is a British singer, songwriter and actress. Mahalia has released several EPs and three albums, Diary of Me (2016), Love and Compromise (2019) and IRL (2023). She also acted in the film Brotherhood (2016). She had her breakthrough in 2017 with her performance of "Sober" for the YouTube channel Colors. In 2018, she was ranked number one on YouTube's Ones to Watch list. Mahalia is from Syston, Charnwood, in Leicestershire. She was born to musician parents. Her father is British-Irish and her mother is Jamaican (Debbion Currie, the first singer of English band Colourbox, in 1982–1983). Mahalia has described the town she grew up in as a predominantly white area with "a lot of racism". She has two brothers, one of whom is Jamaal Burkmar, a dance choreographer and social media influencer. Mahalia is an lifelong supporter of Premier League club Arsenal. She attended Roundhill Community College until she signed a record deal at age 13, when she transferred to a performing arts school, Birmingham Ormiston Academy, where she took acting classes. Mahalia further expanded her actor training at Urban Young Actors, Leicester. As a child, she would often spend her summer breaks at home writing music[citation needed]—she wrote her first song at age eight and signed a deal with Asylum Records at age 13. She performed live for the first time aged "eleven, or maybe 12" at an open mic. She released her debut EP, Head Space, in 2012. Mahalia was later introduced to Ed Sheeran, who she went on to perform as a supporting act for, duetting with him on his song "Gold Rush". She supported Sheeran and Emeli Sandé in their 2014 UK tours. She sang on the title track of UK No. 1 album We the Generation by Rudimental in 2015. In 2019, Mahalia was featured on BBC Radio 1's Brit List. Her album Love and Compromise was released and marketed as her debut album. The album concept was influenced by an interview with Eartha Kitt, which Mahalia's mother showed her when she was a child. Mahalia won Best Female Act and Best R&B/Soul Act at the 2020 MOBO Awards. In 2021, she released "Jealous", a collaboration with American rapper Rico Nasty. She was nominated for her first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Mahalia was included in the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. In 2022, Mahalia was among the performers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She was also one of the opening acts in the all-female lineup at Adele's British Summer Time concerts in London's Hyde Park. In 2023, Mahalia released her second studio album, titled IRL. In support of the album, she toured Europe, North America, and Australia. Mahalia has listed Corinne Bailey Rae, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Amy Winehouse, Jill Scott, India Arie, Ed Sheeran, and Kate Nash among her musical influences. Brotherhood (Noel Clarke, 2016) – as Thea "Neo-Soul 2020: 23 Contemporary Artists Pushing the Sound Forward". Okayplayer.com. Retrieved 1 May 2024. "Mahalia - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News". BBC. Retrieved 17 April 2019. Savage, Mark (9 April 2019). "Mahalia: Drunk-dialling her way to fame". BBC News. O'Connor, Roisin (1 November 2016). "New music to listen to this week: Mahalia". The Independent. London. Retrieved 6 April 2017. Smyth, David (8 April 2019). "Mahalia: 'I was ready to quit music in 2017'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 November 2021. "YouTube: Mahalia tops its first ever Ones To Watch list". BBC News. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2021. Frodsham, I (13 July 2016). "Leicester singer Mahalia Burkmar to star in Brotherhood". Leicester Mercury. Leicester. Archived from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017. Collins, Hattie (10 December 2015). "10 things you need to know about mahalia". i-D. Vice. Retrieved 3 March 2025. Halls, Eleanor (28 June 2019). "Mahalia on messaging Jodie Comer, cancel culture, sexist DMs and industry colourism". Telegraph.co.uk. Murphy, Lauren (14 July 2023). "Mahalia: IRL - An R&B artist of talent and attitude who plays it too safe". The Irish Times. "Come My Way: Mahalia Interviewed". Clash Magazine. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2021. "Singer Mahalia tipped as star by YouTube Music but 'avoids comment section'". The Independent. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2021. admin (28 November 2017). "The New Muse of Rhythm and Blues: An interview with Mahalia - Teeth Magazine". Teeth Magazine - Fashion, Music, Art & Culture. Analog only. Retrieved 4 September 2025. ""Completely fell in love with it, fell in love with the team." Grammy-nominated Mahalia on Live From N5 talks about how she became a Gooner". Facebook. Fresh, Mikey (24 October 2017). "Mahalia Talks About Her Journey From Unknown Singer To Major Label Recording Artist". Vibe. Retrieved 8 November 2021. "Q&A - MAHALIA". Other Voices. Retrieved 8 November 2022. "Urban Young Actors". Urban Young Actors. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. It's really interesting now, as a musician, how something like acting and drama skills can correlate with something like music. I am really grateful for my time at Urban. "Future Noise: Mahalia". UO Blog. Urban Outfitters. 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017. "The first with... Mahalia". British GQ. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2021. Mahalia. Greenbelt Festival. Retrieved 7 March 2025. "Mahalia's not compromising her self-awareness". gal-dem. 7 September 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021. "Listen to Mahalia's soulful new single 'Whenever You're Ready'". NME. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021. Blistein, Jon (19 February 2021). "Mahalia, Rico Nasty Wreak Some Havoc on an Ex in Video for 'Jealous'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021. "Grammy awards 2021: the full list of winners". The Guardian. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021. "Yomi Adegoke and other Black Brits honoured on Forbes 30 under 30 list". Voice Online. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021. "Adele's All-Female Lineup Includes Kacey Musgraves, Mahalia, & Self Esteem". Bustle. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022. "Mahalia Announces 'IRL' Album Release and UK Tour Dates". V13. Retrieved 30 June 2023. "Lauren Spencer Smith Announces Debut Studio Album Mirror". NME. Retrieved 30 June 2023. "MAHALIA ANNOUNCES 2024 NORTH AMERICA LEG OF THE 'IN REAL LIFE' TOUR". Live Nation Entertainment. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2024. Fry, Courtney (25 January 2024). "Mahalia is bringing her In Real Life tour to Australia". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Triple J. Retrieved 7 May 2024. Callender, Samantha (16 July 2021). "R&B Singer Mahalia Wants to Create Excellence". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 8 November 2021. "Mahalia | full Official Charts history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 February 2020. Peak positions for UK R&B Albums Chart: For Love and Compromise: "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40: 13 September 2019 – 19 September 2019". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 February 2020. For IRL: "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40: 21 July 2023 – 27 July 2023". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 July 2023. Peak positions for albums in Scotland: For IRL: "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 21 July 2023. "Heatseekers Albums Chart – March 14, 2020". Billboard. Retrieved 10 March 2020. "Love and Compromise by Mahalia". iTunes. Retrieved 14 August 2019. "British certifications – Mahalia". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 September 2025. Type Mahalia in the "Search:" field. "IRL by Mahalia". iTunes. Retrieved 23 May 2023. "Diary of Me by Mahalia". iTunes. Retrieved 14 August 2019. "Head Space - EP by Mahalia". iTunes. Retrieved 14 August 2019. "Never Change - EP by Mahalia". iTunes. Retrieved 14 August 2019. "Seasons - EP by Mahalia". iTunes. Retrieved 14 August 2019. "Isolation Tapes -