[#Motiv8Mondays] M8alla: Featured Artist of the Week

M8alla (Mballa) is an incredibly talented singer and songwriter with a rapper’s grit. She is currently based in Durham, NC, but originally hails from Washington, DC. One might consider her a nomad as she was raised in D.C., born in Paris France and has Cameroonian citizenship.

M8alla started taking her craft SERIOUSLY about 3 years ago. She has always been a writer in some sense. Initially, she used her talents to write for many publications while attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , and a bunch regular journal entries. Prior to her musical debut, she had written songs before, but hadn’t considered taking it all the way until her father passed away at the end of 2014. Once her greatest fear in life had already happened, losing her dad, it was gloves off!

M8alla’s genre is unique. “I like to say I make Tribal Trap, It’s the place where Tribal inflections, traditional R&B and trap music meet” and it is an incredible treat for listeners of all backgrounds. While most are drawn to the sexier female artist, she has always had a thing for the “cool girl”. That’s not to say they weren’t sexy, it’s just the appeal was swag driven as opposed to body driven. Swag, in their diction, lyrics and personal style. These artists include T-Boz from TLC, Eve, Missy Elliott, P!nk, and Beyoncé in Destiny’s Child. 

M8alla is motivated by the possibility of attracting opportunities to her home country of Cameroon. She is motivated by the likelihood of getting better and reaching unattained levels of songwriting. “I want to move the world with my words.”

Recently, M8alla had the opportunity to headline the Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh alongside DVSN and Miguel. During that week, she also released an EP entitled “Never Leave Quietly” which is can be described as the “album for immigrant women with American degrees and bottom grills”. Basically, it is a work of art that speaks to women of all walks of life. She is currently working on a music video for a crowd favorite called “Jeweler” and putting together her first ever tour. She is also excited about writing songs for other dope artists! Her most recent project can be found on all media platforms.