19-05-2025
Mahalia: the London artists, restaurants and moment that have made her
In 2019 my girlfriends and I gifted our friend Emma tickets to see the R&B artist Mahalia at Hammersmith's Eventim Apollo. Covid hit and the gig was postponed, year on year, until 2023 — when I finally got to stand next to an enamoured Emma as she wore the brightest smile, tears in her eyes, heart on her sleeve. Around us was a crowd of raw emotion, united by the warmth and vulnerability Mahalia so effortlessly evokes.
By this point, the Leicester-born singer had followed her debut album, Love and Compromise, with a Covid-inspired EP, Isolation Tapes, and her latest record, IRL, all of which explored themes of love, loss and self-discovery through a seamless blend of contemporary R&B, old-school soul and
