Ella Mai Signs Worldwide Publishing Deal with Sony/ATV

Sony/ATV Music Publishing has signed a worldwide deal with Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Ella Mai whose breakthrough hit "Boo'd Up" is one of the biggest singles of the year.

The award-winning song climbed to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, topped the R&B chart and has been streamed 650 million times in the U.S. It last week received two Grammy nominations and features alongside her second R&B No. 1 "Trip" on her self-titled debut album, which entered the U.S. top five in October and reached the U.K. Top 20.

Sony/ATV Co-President, U.S. Rick Krim said: "Ella Mai is an astonishing new talent who has rightly emerged as one of 2018's biggest breakout artists. We are honored that she has chosen Sony/ATV as her music publisher and we cannot wait to work with her on what promises to be an outstanding career."

Sony/ATV SVP, Co-Head of West Coast A&R Jennifer Knoepfle said: "Ella is one of the most exciting new artists to emerge this year. This is only the beginning for her and we are so excited to be her publishing partner as her star continues to rise."

Sony/ATV Senior Director, A&R Jennifer Drake said: "Ella Mai is not just an R&B singer, she's the epitome of a superstar that transcends cultures, genres and time. We will do great things together."

Ella Mai said: "I'm looking forward to working together in the New Year!"

Ella Mai's manager Meko Yohannes of 10 Summers Management said: "We are excited about this partnership with Sony/ATV and look forward to working together to build Ella's catalog."

DJ Mustard, who signed Ella Mai to his label 10 Summers Records, said: "She's the goat. She deserves it!"

When London-born Ella Mai led the list of winners at the annual BET Soul Train Awards in November, it was further confirmation of the British talent's status as one of the major breakout stars of 2018.

Crowned Best R&B/Soul Female Artist at the event in Las Vegas, Mai was also recognized for her songwriting skills as her breakthrough hit "Boo'd Up" won Song of the Year and she and the song's other writers received the Ashford and Simpson's Songwriters Award named in honor of the legendary songwriting couple.

The trio of awards marked yet another high in an outstanding year for the 24-year-old who has secured a place in the record books with "Boo'd Up." Having risen to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song went on to rule Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for 16 weeks, the most by a female artist in the chart's history. It was also the first No. 1 hit by a British artist on the Hot R&B Songs chart since 1992, has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA for 3 million U.S. units and topped Billboard's year-end R&B/hip-hop radio, streaming and mainstream airplay charts. It last week received Grammy nominations for Song of the Year and Best R&B Song.

The success of "Boo'd Up" came several years after Mai had launched her singing career while a student at the acclaimed British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) in London. Mai had been born and raised in the city but left at the age of 12 to move to New York City, only to return after graduating from high school.

It was during her time at BIMM that she auditioned for The X Factor in the U.K. as part of a trio called Arize, but did not progress beyond the initial auditions and the group soon broke up. However, Mai then started posting up her music on Instagram where she was discovered by the hit producer DJ Mustard who signed her to his label 10 Summers Records in early 2016.

The following year she served as an opening act on Kehlani's SweetSexySavage World Tour ahead of the release of "Boo'd Up" which was nominated for Song of the Summer at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards and helped Mai to two nominations at this year's American Music Awards.

She has since scored a second No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs chart with "Trip", which also reached No. 11 on the Hot 100 and has been platinum-certified by the RIAA for 1 million U.S. units.

In October she joined Bruno Mars on his 24K Magic tour, the same month her self-titled debut album was released and entered the U.S.'s Billboard 200 chart at No. 5. The Gold-certified album also topped the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and entered the Top 20 in the U.K., Canada and Australia.

She made her Saturday Night Live debut in November when she performed "Boo'd Up" and "Trip" and will begin her first headline solo tour in January.

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