English singer Ella Mai began her career at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of the talent series The X Factor. In October 2015, she released her debut four-track solo extended play, Troubled. The EP, along with her performances on social media, attracted the attention of American record producer DJ Mustard, who subsequently signed her to his label, 10 Summers Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, under which she released two additional EPs in 2016, Time and Change.
Her fourth EP, Ready (2017), included the single "Boo'd Up", which became a sleeper hit, peaking at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. It was followed by "Trip", which reached number 11 and preceded the release of her self-titled debut studio album (2018), which peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200 and at number 18 on the UK Albums Chart. Ella Mai received multiple certifications, including gold in the United Kingdom (100,000 units) and Australia (35,000 units), platinum in Canada (80,000 units), double platinum in New Zealand (30,000 units), and double platinum in the United States (2,000,000 units).
Mai's second studio album, Heart on My Sleeve (2022), released in May 2022, achieved moderate success in the United States but did not chart in the United Kingdom. It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and number two on the Top R&B Albums chart, earning 20,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, and produced the R&B top ten hits "Not Another Love Song" and "DFMU". In November 2024, following the birth of her son, her first child with basketball player Jayson Tatum, she issued 3, her fifth extended play, as a surprise project to commemorate her 30th birthday. Lead single "Little Things" became another top ten hit on the R&B charts for Mai, reaching gold status in New Zealand, and served as a precursor to her third studio album, Do You Still Love Me?, which was released in February 2026.