Bellah has compiled an exclusive playlist to accompany this week’s NME cover story.
The Enfield-raised artist features on The Cover this week (July 24) as we continue our commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover, and the full interview with Bellah can be read here.
To celebrate, Bellah – born Isobel Akpobire – has curated a playlist titled ‘Intro to UK R&B’ featuring songs from fellow NME 100 alumni including FLO, No Guidnce, Nippa and more.
Listen to the full playlist below on Spotify, and here on Apple Music.
In March, the 26-year-old appeared at Austin’s SXSW, a performance NME described as “a defining moment in Bellah’s huge breakout year.” In recent months, she has gone on to play at The Great Escape and Glastonbury, and is currently working on the follow-up to her last EP ‘Adultsville’, which was released in September 2022.
In this week’s The Cover interview, Bellah discusses her vision for the future of British R&B music – and gives a shout out to a wealth of her peers and collaborators, including Jvck James, Mnelia and Shaé Universe. “We’re kids that have different cultures infused in us, so Afro-R&B is a thing, R&B and drill [crossover] exists,” she tells NME. “I think it’s time to widen the lens on the stories that can be told underneath the umbrella of R&B.”
Read the cover story with Bellah in full here.