Mahalia Burkmar

Biography

Mahalia Burkmar (born 1 May 1998), known mononymously as Mahalia, is a British singer and songwriter. Mahalia has released several EPs and three albums, Diary of Me×Diary of Me16 December 2016 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1173:312Silly Girl4:033Never Change3:014Mahalia3:355Rollercoaster4:216I Remember3:407Back Up Plan3:248Marry Me4:059Independence Day3:4610Begin Again3:2911Rollercoaster (acoustic)3:26 (2016), Love and Compromise×Love and Compromise6 September 2019 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Hide Out2:492I Wish I Missed My Ex3:233Simmer2:474Good Company5:075What Am I?2:286Regular People3:017Karma4:188He's Mine3:119What You Did3:2610Do Not Disturb3:4811Richie2:2712Consistency2:5413Square 13:40 (2019) and IRL (2023). She also acted in the film Brotherhood (2016). She had her breakthrough in 2017 with her performance of "Sober×Sober7 July 2017 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Sober4:26" for the YouTube channel Colors. In 2018, she was ranked number one on YouTube's Ones to Watch list.

Life and career

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.
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—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×Love and Compromise6 September 2019 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Hide Out2:492I Wish I Missed My Ex3:233Simmer2:474Good Company5:075What Am I?2:286Regular People3:017Karma4:188He's Mine3:119What You Did3:2610Do Not Disturb3:4811Richie2:2712Consistency2:5413Square 13:40 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×Jealous17 February 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Jealous3:20", 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.

Influences

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.