As introductions go, duetting with Stormzy at the Brit Awards was a nice beginning for Tiana Major9. That was the Newham soul musician singing the chorus of Mary Mary’s 2000 hit Shackles (Praise You) beneath an indoor shower as part of Stormzy’s track Rainfall.
In the US, meanwhile, she’s been on a different trajectory. She’s signed to Motown Records, with all the great history that entails, and her song Collide played a major role in the 2019 crime movie Queen & Slim. It’s far and away her most streamed track to date, while its emotional melody may also have familiar echoes as the theme from Brokeback Mountain.
Appropriately for someone who picked her stage surname from a chord popular with jazz musicians — the major 9th — she’s proving versatile. She has said she takes inspiration from Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill, but then there’s her single Think About You, a dreamy, summery reggae number.
A new EP, At Sixes and Sevens, is out today.
Watch Tiana Major9 on YouTube:
