Who Is Ella Mai?

Her self-titled debut sets out to tell us just that.

Last weekend, British singer Ella Mai released her self-titled debut project, a 16 song compilation of R&B and pop hits, largely produced by DJ Mustard. After an eternal summer of pretending Boo’d Up was just as fun the 5th time…and then the 700th time, my expectations for this album could be accurately summed up in this tweet.

It wasn’t so much that I was exhausted of Ella Mai. The overhaul of covers, unnecessary remixes, and the Jacquees controversy were factors out of her control. Rather, I was wary that a much needed talent would fall victim to a DJ Mustard side-project, a credit to his name and his style like a doe-eyed, curly headed version of Kid Ink with 10 times the ability. Much to my pleasant surprise, the many people who replied in defense of the album were right: “This ain’t it.”

There’s no doubt about it, the album is severely R&B. It’s one part summer barbecues, one part emotional vibe out, and one part “getting ready with my girls”. It isn’t technically profound; every song has the same essential structure and BPM. It stands as a true testament to a lifelong partnership between Pop and R&B amidst the raging wave of “alternative”. This familiarity at times leaves you with the feeling that this is just what you’ve been missing. The track-list does Mai’s range and control justice. She glides between a lower register loosely reminiscent of Beyoncé and gorgeous flips into a crystal clear falsetto, on Cheap Shot. She delivers ‘ooh-hoo’s in both a romantic moan and a stunningly breathy pant on Run My Mouth (a personal favorite). I do truly hate to geek but we stan a vocalist who knows how to properly make use of dynamics, thank you Gut Feeling.

So to me it’s undeniable, Ella Mai deserves to play this game. But here’s the thing about eponymous projects; it’s implied that they are the answer to the question, “Who are you?” Yet, despite an entire acrostic poem progressing the album in chapters, intending to answer just that, the question remains. Who is Ella Mai? Songs like Dangerous, and of course Watchamacallit* might tell you she’s the female Chris Brown. (Speaking of, a Chris Brown feature in this political climate? Uh, okay, anyway.) Own It tells you Mai is not just the girl next door, doing covers on her Instagram. I wouldn’t call it convincing. If you told me Easy was sung by Justine Skye I wouldn’t doubt you for a second. But Gut Feeling begins to tease an emotionality that the large remainder of the album craves, and it doesn’t lay in the lyrics, but the vulnerability in her voice. Something about it rings true. It appears again in Close, this time with the assertion she chooses to represent her essential being through the “A” in Ella. It is that truth that I’m looking forward to seeing more of from Ella Mai.

Don’t get me wrong, we need songs like Trip, Good Bad and of course Boo’d Up. The rest of female kind and I need more to shake our asses to than ad libs and trap beats. That is to say, the album has a place in the cultural landscape. It is not a debut to be dismissed. Yes, it sounds like something you’ve heard before, but is it possible to stand out without being different? Genres take new shape all the time; at this point maybe traditional R&B is the other. I don’t buy it. Everything about this album tells you that Ella Mai wants you to know who she is. We’re just not there yet. In the meantime, I’ll be listening to Run My Mouth so many times Spotify uses it as an anecdote in a billboard campaign.

Overall Rating: Enjoyable

*Editor’s Note: I refused to listen to more than 15 seconds of Whatchamacallit. As a rule, I’m pretty choosy about who I give my .0009 cents per play to.