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How do you celebrate your first trip to Saint Lucia? If you’re Ella Mai, you do so by absolutely killing your World Beats set at this year’s Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival.
Just a few weeks after playing a pair of sold-out South African shows, the Grammy-winning British R&B singer descended upon the Caribbean for another international date ahead of this summer’s Do You Still Love Me Tour. The nearly 40-date trek will visit major cities across the United States, Europe, and the U.K., with ascendant R&B singers Ama and Girlfriend joining as support acts.
Set to kick off on July 7 in Toronto, this new tour also marks Mai’s first such outing since welcoming her baby son with NBA star Jayson Tatum. As she deftly floated between day-one bangers (“She Don’t”), certified classics (“Boo’d Up) and never selections (“Somebody’s Son”), Ella’s forthcoming tour began to form right in front of the Saint Lucia Jazz crowd.
“This is the first time that we’re doing a production; we want to step it up a bit,” she tells Billboard backstage after her performance. “Most of my shows thus far have concentrated on vocals. And not that we won’t be vocal heavy — because we absolutely will — but, with this album, I wanted to immerse people in my world a little bit more. We’re gonna basically bring that to life on the tour, and I’m excited to get on stage and sing new music and have people sing it back to me. And even if they don’t sing it back to me, this new album means so much to me that being able to share it alone is going to be incredible.”
In February, Do You Still Love Me? debuted at N. 44 on the Billboard 200, reaching No. 14 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums thanks to the Adult R&B radio hits “Tell Her” (No. 26) and “Little Things” (No. 19). Executive produced by Mustard, the 14-track album marked the official follow-up to the “Trip” singer’s sophomore record, Heart of My Sleeve, which hit No. 15 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
R&B boasted a dominant presence at this year’s Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival. In addition to Ella Mai, the island nation also enjoyed performances by Tems and Brandy & Monica, with more dancehall-leaning acts like Dexta Daps, D’yani and Valiant keeping R&B a foundational element of their sound. From last year’s R&B crossover hits like Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” and Kehlani’s “Folded” to buzzy new R&B projects this year from Durand Bernarr (BERNARR.) and Jai’Len Josey (Serial Romantic), the genre has been steadily regaining its footing in the streaming era — and Ella Mai is still rooting for it.
“It’s just such a great time for the genre, and it’s incredible to see since it gets so much [flak],” she says. “Nobody asks why today’s rock [music] doesn’t sound like the 90s. Every other genre, I feel, is allowed to evolve and become its own thing in its time. I get it — I love ’90s and 2000s R&B, and it’s nostalgic for us because we grew up on it, but there’s a real R&B resurgence going on right now. And it’s always been there, actually, you just might have to look a bit harder than usual.”
