When you hear people stating that there is a need for more R&B music, you can help but to wonder if they’re truly digging deep enough for it. Mahalia — one of the premiere British stars within the longstanding genre — gave her opinion on the debate to Billboard:
“We’re moving with the times, and people are creating a new lane… And I think that should be celebrated as opposed to talking about what’s missing.”
You can definitely add Mahalia to that “new lane” conversation as well — her ability to mesh classic soul with Caribbean and hip hop sounds is a fresh take on the art. Last year, she released her album Love and Compromise, which saw 12 new tracks and features from Burna Boy, Lucky Daye, Terrace Martin and more. Her most recent standout from that project is “What You Did,” which features fellow UK R&B star Ella Mai and — courtesy of producer Andrew “Pop” Wansel — samples Cam’ron’s classic hip hop staple “Oh Boy.” Given the reference, it only makes sense for the Dipset head honcho to join Mahalia and Ella Mai on the remix, where he contributes to the theme of betrayal fatigue from the offender’s perspective:
“Believe your friends, they don’t sleep with us/
Take this weed, they really starving, they don’t eat with us/
Look, girl, I believe in us, this leaving stuff, you need to hush/
Tell them h*** they teeth they need to brush, bye, keep in touch/
But don’t call my mom’s and question ’bout whereabouts, so where I be/
So to keep it real in all honesty, she don’t mess with you, she gon’ lie for me…/”
You can press play on “What You Did (Remix)” below. You can also head to Mahalia’s official website for more of that R&B that many others feel isn’t present today.