Ella Mai revealed that becoming a mother has been a game-changer for her.
Speaking with Vibe, she explained how motherhood inspired some of the tracks from her latest album, Do You Still Love Me.
“It was probably my song, ‘Chasing Circles,’ which is towards the end. That song really kind of describes postpartum for me. It’s kind of a reminder of that journey of becoming a mom, and it’s a whole new world,” said Ella Mai.
“The newborn stage was not my favorite in the slightest. In the newborn stage, there’s just no way you can get eight to 10 [hours]. That was really hard for me,’ she continued. “But also, your hormones are going up and down. It [the song] takes me back to that time and really reminds me that, even in the year and a half he’s been alive, how far I’ve come not only as a mom and an artist, but as a human being. It just makes me proud of myself.”
She also spoke about how she thought her pregnancy might take away her voice.
They also say it’s a possibility that you can lose your voice when you’re pregnant. Not that you can’t speak, but it definitely changes so much within your body that it can change your voice. It can make your voice sound deeper, Ella said. “Luckily, I felt like it really helped me. It helped tap into another level of emotion, which was really, really cool.
Ella also shared how Mustard was the first person to believe in her artistry.
“I just started posting covers of really big songs at the time, and I started to pick up traction. Blogs were posting me, and that’s how Mustard came across my page,” Ella recalled. “I didn’t really realize what was happening at the time. “And I just kind of knew that I had to keep going.
“Then Mustard and I did a session out here in New York 10 years ago, which is so crazy to even think about, and we made three songs. At that point, I didn’t have management. I was literally just singing into my phone off a YouTube backing track,” she recalled. “And he was just like, ‘I really love what you did. I want to get you out to L.A. Let’s work more.’ And I went back and forth to L.A. for a little while. I signed to him, and then everything basically happened. Crazy.”
Do You Still Love Me is available on all platforms.