“The EP Is A Perfect entry to who I am”- A conversation with Alana Maria

A voice smooth like butter with a charming personality forged from the same pool as Will Smith, it’s easy to see why Alana Maria has caught everyone’s attention.

Earning co-signs from the likes of Pa Salieu and Backroad Gee, the singer has rapidly established her position as a rising star on the UK R&B scene. We got the chance to chat with the songstress about her career so far alongside her newly-released debut EP, ‘LALA’.

Speaking on the EP Alana explained, “It’s kind of overwhelming just because this is my first EP. So you know, it’s a little bit like oh my god, I hope everyone likes it. www totolotek pl zakłady bukmacherskie oferta I hope there’s a song on the EP that everyone can at enjoy because usually, you know, singles are only one song but an EP is a collection of songs just being bashed out. So it’s kind of it’s exciting, everyone’s loving it.”

A childhood nickname derived from the Teletubbies, ‘LALA’ is the perfect entry in finding out who exactly is Alana.”I feel like the EP shows little bits of my personality, like “Reasons” is when I’m in my feels. fortuna zakłady bukmacherskie forum That’s my simp song for when I’m really in my feelings for someone. “Show Me Love” is more when I’m in the feels, but I’m being stubborn. Feeling more dominant, I’m not really caring about your feelings right now. Like, its show me love if you want me whereas “Reasons” is more like, I just want to be with you all the time. “Out The Mud” is more when I’m just in my bag of just… [Laughs] like I don’t even have the words to explain it [Laughs] but there are two sides with me.”

Noteworthy is the contrast between Alana and her Lala persona. Lala is a no-nonsense type of chick, whilst Alana speaks with a warmth that can make one feel as if they have been best friends since birth.

Encompassing the emotions of young love, Alana offers listeners an intimate seat to her mind. “The last session I had, [Pause] I’ve got an unreleased song called last round and it was a very intimate and intense session I was writing [Pause] and I was like I’m gonna cry in a minute. I laid it down, with the vocals but I was crying. I was like okay, let’s just take a minute now because emotions are coming up. When I hear a beat or a melody, it’s hard to stop myself from putting the truth out. As an artist, you can’t control what you want to write, you can’t control what feeling a song gives you..”

As an artist, you can’t control what you want to write. You can’t control what feeling a song gives you.

Alana Maria

“In the same way, when you’re in your feels, you will play a certain song that will make you feel better or make you feel worse. That’s exactly how that person felt when they were writing it as well. I’m being vulnerable, and I’m putting everything on paper for you guys to hear. You guys are all gonna feel exactly how I feel. So I feel like most of the sessions are intense but that one was the most intense one I’ve had so far. Just because the lyrics were from experience. So it was hard knowing how I felt inside and I’m bringing out the words now that everyone can hear. This is crazy.”

Though her sound has often been referred to as “nostalgic”, we contest that ‘LALA’ is actually a pristine capture of modern R&B. Flushed with Afropop and Dancehall influences – The connecting train is R&B but various routes are explored on the EP.

“I’m guessing sometimes it might be the tone of my voice. It might be because it’s quite smooth. A lot of people have said my tone is quite similar to brandy and with some of the harmonies that I do. So maybe that might be the nostalgia that it’s bringing in which I generally don’t mind, but I do want to stay in present as well as giving like a euphoria kind of feel. I want to stay modern, but also bring back the nostalgic feel at the same time, but I don’t want to stand for that. I just want to be able to do that with certain songs”

Another thing Alana shares with her idol is how young they were when making a start in the industry – Brandy was 15 and Alana 17. Though R&B was eventually ruled by the youths in Brandy’s era, Alana lives in a time where the genre is mostly led by the elders. Today’s young talent are not given the grace to grow as artists. They are expected to deliver the same quality as those with 15 years in the industry. This doesn’t faze Alana one bit, “I’ve always tried to just stay myself and be true to myself, regardless of ages, regardless of you know, how long people have been doing it or status wise.”

“I thought I did feel quite like scared to voice my opinions just because I got signed off at 17 like I was doing sixth form. So I felt a bit intimidated to say something in case they felt like, What did you just say? Or like how is that gonna work? I felt like, oh I’m too young. These people know what they’re doing and I don’t but then as I got older, I realized these people signed me for a reason, they saw me for a reason, my talent is here for a reason and that was all because of my opinions and what I was doing at the time. gry hazardowe jednoręki bandyta Nobody told me to do what I was doing and I got signed for it. I was like.. my opinions, they’re gonna want to hear them. So I just started to talk more, open up and they’ve been absolutely fine. They’ve always taken my ideas on board and they always want to hear what I’ve got in store as well.”

Alana’s confidence is admirable, there is no stutter in her delivery – she is here to stay and create her own lane.

Her words paint a picture of a future that looks set to extend beyond music into acting and fashion, “further down the line I’m gonna branch out and you know, show my other talents but I’m sticking with making sure everything is music based first, just so people don’t get too confused, I don’t want to give everything”

“You’ve honestly only seen like 5% or so I swear to God. Yeah, there’s a lot [Laughs] and I’m actually so excited for you guys to see it but I’m just taking my time”

Listen to ‘LALA’ below.