
In 2014, while attending the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London, she competed on The X Factor as part of a trio named Arize, but the group didn't advance beyond the initial audition and subsequently broke up.

Raised in southwest London, Ella Mai Howell moved to New York at the age of 12, then returned to England after she graduated from high school. The song was written by Mai, Varren Wade, Quinton, and Dijon MacFarlane. The song peaked at number 47 in the UK and number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

The single led to her Top Five self-titled debut album, which arrived that October and was followed shortly thereafter by a Grammy win for Best R&B Song. 'Trip' is a song by English-American singer Ella Mai from her eponymous debut studio album. native hit the mainstream in 2018 with breakthrough single "Boo'd Up," a sparkling slow jam that increased in popularity throughout the year. An R&B singer and songwriter with a casually commanding voice, Ella Mai wasn't exactly an unknown artist before DJ Mustard signed her to his 10 Summers label, but the U.K.
