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''Ella Mai'' is the debut
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by English singer and songwriter
Ella Mai Ella Mai Howell (born 3 November 1994) is an English R&B singer and songwriter. Her musical career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of ...
, released on 12 October 2018 through 10 Summers and
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
. It includes the singles "
Boo'd Up "Boo'd Up" is the sleeper hit and debut commercial single by English singer Ella Mai from her third extended play, ''Ready'' (2017), and as the eighth single from her debut studio album ''Ella Mai'' (2018). Serving as the lead single for the EP, ...
" and " Trip". It is executive-produced by
DJ Mustard A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...
, and features guest appearances from
Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...
,
John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...
, and
H.E.R. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her" and standing for "Having Everything Revealed") is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. She has won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Child ...
"Boo'd Up" was originally included on Mai's 2017 EP ''
Ready Ready may refer to: Film and television * ''Ready'', a 2002 British short starring Imelda Staunton * Ready (2008 film), ''Ready'' (2008 film), an Indian Telugu-language film by Srinu Vaitla ** Uthamaputhiran (2010 film), ''Uthamaputhiran'' (201 ...
'' and reached number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in July 2018. The follow-up single, "Trip", released in August 2018, has reached number 11. After her own headline tour of the United States, Mai appeared as a supporting act on dates of
Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...
'
24K Magic World Tour The 24K Magic World Tour was the fourth concert tour of American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars that was performed in support of his third studio album '' 24K Magic'' (2016) from March 2017 to December 2018. Anderson .Paak was the opening act fo ...
from 4 October leading up to the release of the album. The album debuted in the top 20 in the UK and at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.


Background

In August 2018, DJ Mustard explained to ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' that upon signing Mai, there was a plan to make three EPs and see if any of the songs caught enough public attention to make an album. Following the success of "Boo'd Up", DJ Mustard said: "So the plan worked. What people don't understand, this is like my little sister. This project coming is like my baby. I'm pressing for it more than my own shit. It's all about her right now."


Music

The album has been called a "throwback R&B record", with influences from trap and
rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...
. Interviewed by Keryce Chelsi Henry of ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'', Ella Mai talked about the creative process and musical arrangements for the album:
"Mustard and I really wanted to make sure that the album was cohesive with the EPs, sound-wise, but also elevated; ..I worked with a few other producers on the album to add more variety, but as executive producer, Mustard really worked hard with me to expand our sound and create something that we love and are extremely proud of. ..During the recording process I really had to dig deep, challenge and push myself to the limits. I hope that listening to ''Ella Mai'' makes you feel the exact same way I felt when I was recording it."


Commercial performance

''Ella Mai'' debuted at number 18 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, becoming her first entry on that chart. It was certified gold by the BPI in August 2022. In the United States, the album debuted at number 5 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, earning 69,000
album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
s (including 17,000 were pure album sales) in its first week. This became Mai's highest entry on the chart. Less than two weeks later, the album was certified
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) for combined sales and
album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
s of over 500,000 units in the United States. In March 2019, the album was then certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 1,000,000 units in the United States. As of October 2021, the album would go on to reach
double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...
status for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 2,000,000 units in the United States.


Track listing

Adapted from Tidal, Mai's Twitter, DJ Mustard's Instagram,
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
, and BMI. * * * https://www.instagram.com/p/BoelTbpBGci/* * Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer


Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.


Performance

*
Ella Mai Ella Mai Howell (born 3 November 1994) is an English R&B singer and songwriter. Her musical career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of ...
– main artist *
Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...
– featured artist *
John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...
– featured artist *
H.E.R. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her" and standing for "Having Everything Revealed") is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. She has won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Child ...
– featured artist * MUSYCA Children's Choir– vocals


Production

* Nana Rogues – production *
Bryan-Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter, known for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. His most notable productions are " Be Without You" fo ...
– production *
DJ Mustard A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...
– production , co-production *
Harmony Samuels Harmony Olakunle David Samuels (born 16 May 1980), also known as H-Money, is an English record producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He has produced a multitude of hits for artists such as Brandy, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, Ariana ...
– production * Kosine – production * Miykal Snoddy – production *
Lido Lido may refer to: Geography * Lido (Belgrade), a river beach on the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia * Venice Lido, an 11-kilometre-long barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Italy * Ruislip Lido, a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruisl ...
– production * Quintin Gulledge – additional production * J Holt – co-production *
Rance Rance may refer to: Places * Rance (river), northwestern France * Rancé, a commune in eastern France, near Lyon * Ranče, a small settlement in Slovenia * Rance, Wallonia, part of the municipality of Sivry-Rance ** Rouge de Rance, a Devonian ...
– co-production * Andrew Groziuso – co-production * Dimi Sloane Sesson II – co-production * Giscard Friedman – co-production *
Omer Fedi Omer Fedi (; born 25 March 2000) is an Israeli record producer, songwriter and musician from Tel Aviv. He has co-written or produced songs such as " Mood" by 24kGoldn, " Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" by Lil Nas X, " Unholy" by Sam Smith, and ...
– co-production * Thomas Strahle – co-production


Instrumentation

* Marlon M. Williams – guitar


Technical

*
Jaycen Joshua Jaycen Joshua is an American audio engineer based in California. He won three Grammy Awards: the first for mixing ''Growing Pains'' for Mary J. Blige in 2007, followed by '' El mal querer'' for Rosalía in 2018, and ''Hyperspace'' for Beck in ...
– mixing * Jacob Richards – mixing * Mike Seaberg – mixing * Rashawn McLean – mixing * Chris Athens – mastering


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{Authority control 2018 debut albums Ella Mai albums Albums produced by Mustard (record producer) Interscope Records albums