The rhythm and blues genre has had a void of artists keeping a consistent sound — meaning plenty of R&B artists have a pop rollout to compensate for the genre not working commercially. But Ella Mai’s self-titled album, released last Friday, gives R&B fans who wish to have that sound back something to refresh their library.
Mai is an English singer from London who rose to fame after her first single, “Boo’d Up,” which has recently become popular despite being released a few months ago. Fans from all mixes of life — young and old — enjoyed the smooth track. Following “Boo’d Up,” she released her second single, “Trip,” in August. It went viral on social media after controversy rose surrounding R&B singer Jacquees’ cover of the song. His version started to become bigger than Mai’s, causing 10 Summers and Interscope Records to remove it from Youtube and SoundCloud. Still, these moments only added to the hype of Mai’s debut album.
Because 10 Summers is DJ Mustard’s label, one can expect the beats on Mai’s album to be a bit more uptempo. After listening to the record, it is clear there was a formula used for the majority of the songs. The formula consists of using a simple beat mixed with lack-luster lyrics and a repetitive chorus. With a voice as soothing as Mai’s, the project lacked originality and was underperformed.
The album takes listeners on a journey from Mai’s desire to be loved to the after-effects of just wanting to live her best life. One can hear the progression in songs like “Shot Clock,” where Mai essentially acknowledges that she could have any man she wanted. The track also has sampled lyrics from Drake’s 2015 single, “Legend.”
Out of all 16 tracks, less than half the album had a non-generic sound without repetitive lyrics. A lot of the songs had mellow sounds on DJ Mustard-produced beats.  They consisted of a catchy chorus filled with effortless lyrics. “Dangerous,” “Easy” and “Naked (Bonus Track)” are some of the songs that stand out to capture the essence of Mai’s voice.    
Her use of features for her first studio album was hit and miss. The Chris Brown feature on “Watchamacallit” sounds like a throwaway record and could have easily been left off. Going back to earlier critiques, it seemed to go with the formula and took away from the album rather than added to it. The tracks with John Legend and H.E.R served their purpose by showing what Mai’s voice can do alongside other prominent acts. It was a good decision to limit the number of features on this project.
The album was good, but at certain moments did not live up to the hype that the first single brought. This is supposed to be a self-titled album introducing the world to Ella Mai. The moments of Mai speaking her truth with spoken word add to the album’s mission; however, it is not clear that the songs give the same feeling.
I do believe this album will sit well with R&B fans who have been waiting for some pure soulful music. For new listeners who are just a fan of melodies and good beats, this album will satisfy as well. But, if you have been following Ella Mai for some time, this album may come as a bit of a dissapointment.

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“Ella Mai” takes listeners on a journey from Mai’s desire to be loved to the after-effects of just wanting to live her best life. (Finish Line / Creative Commons)