In 2022, Ella Mai returned with her long-awaited sophomore album, Heart On My Sleeve. The project served as the follow-up to her self-titled debut, which boasted the hit record, “Boo’d Up.” However, Heart On My Sleeve felt more personal and captured a comprehensive glimpse of Ella Mai’s potential. The 15-song project found Ella Mai working with a variety of producers, including Mustard, Boi-1da, and more. Additionally, she also linked up with a handful of other artists, like Roddy Ricch, Lucky Daye, and Latto.
Though the project remains in the rotation, she came back with even more heat with her fans this week. She dropped off the official deluxe edition of Heart On My Sleeve which includes three additional records. “2 O’Clock,” boasts production from Mustard and Kaytranada, who come through with an upbeat bop. Still, Mai’s vulnerability takes center stage.
The re-release of Heart On My Sleeve should certainly leave fans happy. She hasn’t released any new music since she dropped the album. During an interview with HipHopDX, she explained that she took two years to work on Heart On My Sleeve while noting the differences between thai project and her debut.
“I was going into the studio and literally making exactly what I felt like on that day, and that was the first time I kind of was doing that,” she said. “With the process for my debut album, I was going in and kind of just trying to figure it out, but this process, I really was just speaking what was on my mind.”
Shortly after the project dropped, Mary J. Blige, who mentored Mai, praised the state of R&B music right now. "Right now, I love the state of R&B because of people like Ella Mai, Kiana Lede, Summer Walker, H.E.R., Jazmine [Sullivan], SZA, Ari Lennox – it’s so much hotness out there,” Blige said.
Check out the deluxe edition of Ella Mai’s Heart On My Sleeve below.