West Memphis, AR · soul · r&b

Yebba

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A voice that stops rooms — gospel-schooled soul with astonishing control at the top of the range, 'My Mind' still the proof.

Yebba was born Abigail Elizabeth Smith on January 16, 1995, and grew up singing in a church in West Memphis, Arkansas, the gospel grounding that still shapes her phrasing. Before the wider world took notice, she had already built a following through her own YouTube channel, posting covers and originals from her bedroom.

Her breakthrough came through a Sofar Sounds performance of 'My Mind,' written about a week before her mother's death. Ed Sheeran, who saw the performance and cried, signed her to his Gingerbread Man Records, and the momentum carried her to a proper debut single, 'Evergreen,' in 2017, with a Zane Lowe-backed video the following year supported by Apple Music and Beats 1.

Session and feature work followed steadily: backing vocals on Chance the Rapper's 2016 SNL performance of 'Same Drugs,' a co-write and feature on Sam Smith's 'No Peace,' a spot alongside Maverick Sabre on Rudimental's 'They Don't Care About Us,' three songs on Mark Ronson's Late Night Feelings, and backing vocal credits for Jess Glynne and Mumford & Sons, including a televised duet with The Staves.

In 2019 she won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance for her feature on PJ Morton's cover of 'How Deep Is Your Love,' and appeared on Ed Sheeran's 'Best Part of Me,' her first charting single. That August brought 'Where Do You Go,' produced by BJ Burton and The Picard Brothers.

She signed to RCA Records in 2020, releasing the Mark Ronson-produced 'Distance,' and in 2021 appeared on Drake's Certified Lover Boy on the track 'Yebba's Heartbreak.'

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