10 December 2020
Newsdesk
The Neo-soul singer - who scooped two prizes for Best Female Act and Best R&B/Soul Act at the virtual 2020 MOBO Awards on Wednesday night (09.12.20) - says she will always remain humble and grounded because her family and close friends won't let her get too big for her boots.
Mahalia - who released her acclaimed debut studio album, 'Love and Compromise', in 2019 - also admitted she prefers to be in their company over people in the music industry.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper's Wired column, the 22-year-old star said: "All of my friends, all my family, all the people that I surround myself with are all people that I have known my whole life or that I have met in really natural ways.
"I guess even though I am an artist and I got the odd gig, or the odd event, I really don't surround myself with people in the biz.
"So that means I've just stayed me.
"I really do love and care about all the regulars in my life because apart from the music world that is my whole life.
"Both of my best friends have babies, they take their dogs for a walk, have jobs, and just regular lives."
One member of her family who keeps Mahalia in check the most is her younger brother.
Speaking about her 11-year-old sibling, she added: "I've written so many songs with swear words in it and he'll come to me like, 'May, I really like that song but take the F-word out.
"Even though I am a young girl from Leicester, and I am a bit of a geezer about town, and I like to swear and do my thing, I do forget there are kids looking at me."
