Mahalia's new song "Hold On" takes on first love from a new perspective

15 October 2017, 09:47 | Written by The Line of Best Fit

(Tracks)

(Buddy) (Mahalia)

19-year-old Mahalia first picked up the guitar and began writing love songs at the age of 12. Seven years later, the Leicester-born singer has built up a slow-burn rep that seen her find her own particular R&B-flecked sound.

New song "Hold On", produced by rising London producer Nana Rogues (Section Boyz, Skepa) and Jay Prince, "Hold On" is a bubbling R&B jam that distills Mahalia's thoughts on getting together with her former teen crush - and now current beau. The song rides on a fresh R&B groove that nods back to the '90 and feature Compton MC Buddy guesting as a surrogate for the guy, delivering a perspective from the other side.

"[It] was a tune that needed to come out of me for a long time and it finally did when I stumbled upon an old flame of mine in my home town," Mahalia explains. "I originally wrote it in the studio with Jay Prince. I then had a session with Buddy on his recent stop in London and he came at me with the geezas perspective for it."