Kyla

British R&B vocalist Kyla first rose to prominence in 2007 when she supplied guest vocals for the DJ Paleface single Do You Mind. Reissued a year later — with a U.K. funky house remix by production collective Crazy Cousins — the single entered the U.K. singles chart at number 48 and had already been a favorite on the U.K. funky scene, a micro-genre that mixed the best of R&B, U.K. garage, and house. With a handful of singles following over the next year, including Do What You Wanna Do and Why Did You Play Me, Kyla eventually took time away from the music scene after marrying Paleface (aka Errol Reid) and starting a family. After a few years, Kyla started to look at returning to the music scene when, at the beginning of 2016, Canadian rapper Drake got in contact to license Kyla’s vocal from the track “Do You Mind.” The Drake single One Dance — which also featured a collaboration with Nigerian star Wizkid — was released in April, instantly hitting the top of the charts across the world, including Kyla’s native U.K. With her career kickstarted once again, Kyla spent 2016 playing at various summer festivals across the U.K. while also teaming up with Naughty Boy on the single Should've Been Me and Major Lazer on Need Someone. ~ Rich Wilson