Mahalia

Mahalia, Tiana Major9, And MNEK Call Out The BRIT Awards For A Lack Of R&B Nominees

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Not everyone is excited for the upcoming BRIT Awards. The ceremony, which supposedly showcases and awards the best in UK music this year has noticeably overlooked R&B acts in its nominations.

Noteable British R&B musicians immediately called out the BRITs for their negligence.

In the category for Best Pop/R&B Act are Cat Burns, Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith and Charli XCX. R&B singer Tiana Major9 took to Twitter to express her frustration, asking the BRITs, “Are you purposely trying to antagonise R&B artists?”

Some fans argued that the acts in this category were all pop acts. Even more said that R&B should have its own category.

“Forget putting us in this category. Give us our own!!!!! How many times do we have to scream at you?,” said R&B singer Mahalia.

She continued, saying, “Winning awards isn’t the reason why we make and release music. We do this sh*t out of love. But, at this point, it’s nothing short of disrespectful.”

Singer and songwriter MNEK also weighed in, noting that there are several promising R&B acts coming out of the UK.

“OK this is silly now,” he said. “We get it. UK industry doesn’t know what to do with R&B. But there’s enough R&B/hiphop artists to have their own category at LEAST. Bellah, Tiana Major 9, Jack James, FLO, None of these artists (ESPECIALLY @catburns) is making R&B music.”

He continued, saying, “it’s whack cos the gen pop will think cos Cat is black, she’s R&B. I also think it’s whack cos the category would still be valid if the “R&B” wasn’t added, BPI could do with explaining the need for this in the award title. Cos, it’s not like the people haven’t spoken!”

The BRIT Awards recipients are set to be revealed on Saturday, February 11, during a televised ceremony in the UK.

Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Adele Will Perform With An All-Female Lineup For Her Shows At London’s BST Hype Park

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Ever since the release of her fourth album 30 last fall, fans of Adele have been looking for opportunities to watch the singer perform records from the projects in the US. She was set to hold a Las Vegas residency, but that was postponed due to COVID delays. It remains to be seen when that residency will make its return, and whether or not Adele will have shows in the states beforehand. With that being said, folks across the pond are gearing up for her pair of performances at London’s BST Hype Park, both of which are set to go down on July 1 and 2.

Ahead of the shows, Adele announced an all-female lineup that will join her onstage. In the announcement, Adele revealed that Kacey Musgraves, Gabrielle, Mahalia, Self Esteem, Nilüfer Yanya, Tiana Major9, Chrissi, Bonnie Kemplay, Ruti, and Tamzene will perform with her during the shows at BST Hyde Park. It’s unknown if the lineup will be split in half between the two days or if all women will appear during both shows.

“The line up for my Hyde Park shows next week is going to blow your socks off!” Adele wrote with her announcement about the show. “An all female bill, from new artists that I’m obsessed with to the heavenly @KaceyMusgraves to one of my favorite artists of all time @GabrielleUk who I’ve loved since I was 4!!”

She continued, “It’s going to be incredible, there’s a whole host of us performing all day, I can’t wait to share the main stage with you ladies.”

BST — or British Summer Time — Hyde Park takes place every year across two weekends in London. This year, it began on June 24 with Elton John as a headliner and it will end on July 10 with Duran Duran closing things out. In between it all, Eagles, Pearl Jam, and The Rolling Stones join Adele as headliners on different days while Phoebe Bridgers, Rina Sawayama, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Little Big Town, and more have or will perform.

Mahalia Strips ‘Whatever Simon Says’ To Its Lovely Core With An Acoustic Performance On ‘The Eye’

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The Eye features music’s best rising artists in a minimal studio space to perform renditions of their top songs with only one camera, one microphone, and one take. Featured on the latest installment is Mahalia, who in many ways has already risen.

Mahalia is a familiar figure in the R&B scene thanks to her two albums, 2016’s Diary Of Me and 2019’s Love And Compromise. The latter fared well on the charts, as it was top-30 in the her native UK and came close to topping the R&B chart over there, too, with a peak at No. 4. She’s made some powerful friends in recent years, as she’s collaborated with people like Rico Nasty, Burna Boy, and Ella Mai. One of Mahalia’s collaborations even landed her her first Grammy nomination in 2021, as Jacob Collier’s “All I Need” featuring Mahalia and Ty Dolla Sign was up for Best R&B Performance.

Now, Mahalia has earned a different sort of honor: performing on The Eye. For her performance, she busted out the recent single “Whatever Simon Says,” which she just released last week. Here, she strips away the lush R&B production of the studio version in favor of an acoustic guitar-led rendition. The new aesthetic works well here, which is a testament to both the quality of the songwriting and the beauty of Mahalia’s vocals in a more minimal context.

When Mahalia shared the song last week, she explained its background on Instagram, writing, “there’s only one thing i have to talk about today. and that’s individuality. uniqueness is beautiful. it’s a superpower, in fact. ‘Whatever Simon Says’ is my gift to all of you reading this who are over ppl telling you what to do .. how to speak .. how to look. It’s for all of you who are no longer compromising your happiness for the benefit of somebody else.”

Watch Mahalia perform “Whatever Simon Says” for The Eye above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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