Craig David, Mahalia, and Tiana Major9 on The Global Rise of UK R&B
We talked to UK R&B superstars on about the genre we all love.
Once labeled an underdog in the global R&B conversation, UK R&B is now breaking through with grace, grit, and a genre-defying edge. Whether it's the sultry jazz-infused tones of Tiana Major9, the journalistic songwriting of Mahalia, or the evergreen influence of Craig David, British R&B is showing up with a voice that’s not only distinct but proudly unfiltered.
What makes it resonate now is that this wave is driven by artists who know who they are, and who carry both community & cultural memory in their sound.
Over three back-to-back conversations at Spotify UK headquarters (after the filming of their new Spotify Conversations film), I caught up with Tiana Major9, Mahalia, and Craig David to talk legacy, accents, and how UK R&B is no longer asking to be seen. It is the moment.
TIANA MAJOR9: East London Soul, Global Spirit
Tiana Major9 doesn’t make music to fit in. She makes it to feel whole. When I asked her how she blends R&B, gospel, jazz, and reggae so seamlessly, she gave the kind of answer that speaks to something deeper than genre. “My family’s Jamaican. It’s just natural,” she says. “I grew up on gospel, R&B, neo-soul… but as I got older, I really started to delve into reggae. All of it just lives inside of me.”
Tiana’s art feels spiritual and rooted, not just in culture but in community. And it’s that foundation that’s helped her stand tall as UK R&B has gained traction abroad over the past decade. She counts her 2019 Soul Train Awards performance of “Collide” as a moment where she truly felt like she had made it.
“It felt like my music was living in the exact place I always dreamed it would. I grew up watching BET. So to be there, on that stage, performing with EarthGang… that was the moment.”
She’s also unafraid to speak on what’s still lacking in her home country when it comes to R&B visibility. “We need more money in the pot,” she says. “More platforms like YAMS. More backing. But most importantly, we need the right people who love R&B to champion it.”
Tiana is in the midst of a creative shift, channeling vulnerability into her pen with a clarity that she says will define her next album. “I’m being more self-aware. More honest about how I show up in love. It’s introspective. It’s vulnerable. But that’s where the truth lives.”
I asked her to build a UK R&B starter pack for first-time listeners, and she pointed to Estelle, Mahalia, and Lemar, a UK soul legend she hopes more people discover. “I want to be the one to introduce people to him. We don’t always champion our icons here the way you do in the States.”
Her answer says it all: Tiana’s not just making music for now. She’s building a bridge between what came before and what’s next.
CRAIG DAVID: Still Born to Do It, 25 Years Later
Craig David is a cornerstone of the UK R&B story. From the moment Born to Do It dropped in 2000, Craig brought melody, swagger, and a fresh air of sensitivity to the forefront. And 25 years later, that album still lives on playlists, samples, and timelines like a rite of passage. “It’s the gift that keeps giving,” he tells me. “To hear it mentioned alongside Confessions or Donell Jones’ “Where I Wanna Be”… that’s legacy. And I never take that lightly.”
Back then, before social media metrics and viral TikTok sounds, impact came in a different way. “We had to build through pirate radio, and then through people requesting songs on commercial radio,” he says. “That first hit, ‘Re-Rewind’ with Artful Dodger — that was my COLORS performance moment, if you will.”
For Craig, the power of the UK R&B sound lies in its language, not just its vibe. “If I say I stepped off the pavement and walked into the council estate… an American listener might be like, ‘what?’ But that’s the point. Our lingo, our cadence: it makes the story more ours.”
While younger fans may know him for garage and house crossovers, his heart remains firmly planted in R&B. Whether it’s his current album Commitment, his collaborations with Kaytranada, or his early link-ups with Ella Mai and Muni Long before their global glow-ups, Craig has a sixth sense for where the culture is headed.
“People say I’m a lucky charm. I just love music that resonates with my soul, whether or not the artist is ‘big’ yet. That’s the only metric I care about.”
His new album is a return to form and a leap forward. Commitment features artists like JoJo and Tiwa Savage, all rooted in a sound that Craig describes as “R&B at the core, even if the production shifts.” The message? R&B can exist everywhere — in garage, in house, in pop. But it must always lead with emotion. “R&B is my true north,” he says. “Even if I’m in the club or on a house track, you’re gonna hear harmonies, ad-libs, storytelling. That’s what makes it soul.”
And if you’re new to UK R&B, Craig’s starter pack includes Mahalia, Tiana Major9, Kwn, and Nippa. “There’s such a range of artists pushing boundaries right now. You have to tap in.”
25 years in, Craig David isn’t chasing a moment — he’s crafting the next one.
MAHALIA: Luvergirl and Lyrical Healer
Mahalia’s voice is like honey, but it’s direct. She’s been in the industry since her teens, and you can hear emotional intelligence in every word she sings. Now, with her new project, Luvergirl, she’s tapping into a new energy: liberation.
“Making this project was the most excited I’ve been in ages. I made some of it in St. Vincent, most of it in Jamaica. And I finally felt… centered.”
For Mahalia, it wasn’t just a location change: it was a spiritual realignment. Being back in the Caribbean reminded her of the music she grew up with, the culture that shaped her, and the complexity of being a mixed-race woman navigating Blackness in the UK. “Nobody was asking me which parent is Black. We were all just Jamaican. That was the common thread. That’s what grounded me.”
Sonically, Luvergirl is sun-soaked, flirtatious, and quietly empowering. “I just wanted to swing my hips. I wasn’t thinking about tempo or what’s gonna chart. I just wanted to feel joy— and I did.”
When it comes to UK R&B’s global growth, Mahalia sees the rise as cyclical, but says that this current wave feels different. “Some of us have been in the game for 10 years. RAYE. Cleo. Myself. This isn’t overnight,” she says. She’s especially proud of how women in the scene are being celebrated now, and not compared as much. “There was a time when every article would list us next to each other like a race. Now? We’re in our own lanes, and we get to appreciate each other.”
Mahalia’s starter pack for UK R&B reflects that same care: Floetry, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Shae Universe. “Shae’s tone is so crazy,” she says. “She reminds me of India Arie. She’s not in the conversation enough, and she absolutely should be.”
For Spotify –– DJ Ace leads a powerful roundtable with UK R&B powerhouses Craig David, Mahalia, and Tiana Major9 in an honest conversation about the state of R&B in the UK and the experiences shaping their artistry.
A Movement, Not a Moment
What ties all three artists together is a deep understanding that UK R&B is both personal and political. It’s shaped by regional slang, rooted in immigrant stories, and carried by Black British artists who’ve long existed in the in-between. But in 2025, there’s no mistaking the identity of the sound or the scale of its impact.
Mahalia put it best:
“We were always told there was a ceiling. Now we’re breaking past it, without having to move countries to do it.”
Tiana Major9 echoed that urgency:
“We need platforms, visibility, love for R&B. Because the talent is already here.”
And Craig David, forever committed, reminded us of the genre’s true power:
“R&B is about feeling. Whether it’s a slow jam or a garage tune – if it touches your heart, it’s doing its job.”
From East London flats to Caribbean studios, from Twitter virality to BET stages, UK R&B is claiming space not by conforming, but by amplifying the very things that make it different. There’s a reason that we now see FLO, Kwn, Odeal, Cleo Sol, Elmiene, and more in conversation just as much as we see their American counterparts.
This is homegrown soul, going global.
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