Kelela

Kelela is an American singer, songwriter, and producer of Ethiopian descent whose work sits at the intersection of R&B songwriting and experimental electronic production. She emerged with the 2013 mixtape Cut 4 Me, which paired her airy, layered vocals with left-field club and bass production, immediately marking her as a distinctive voice bridging underground electronic scenes and contemporary R&B.

Her profile grew further with the 2015 EP Hallucinogen and high-profile collaborations, including work with Gorillaz and a featured vocal on Solange's A Seat at the Table. These connections placed her within a broader circle of forward-thinking Black artists reshaping R&B's boundaries in the 2010s. Her debut full-length album, Take Me Apart, released in 2017, was led by the single «LMK» and consolidated her reputation as an artist willing to pair vulnerable, intimate songwriting with unconventional, texturally rich production.

Kelela's sound is often noted for its atmospheric, glitch-inflected electronic backdrops set against smooth, R&B-rooted vocal melodies, a combination that has made her a touchstone for artists working at the boundary between club music and soul. Tracks such as «All the Way Down», «Frontline», and «Rewind» further reflect this sensibility, cementing her as a critically respected figure in contemporary alternative R&B.