A veteran of the music industry at age 20, UK wunderkind Mahalia makes soul-pop that’s equal parts wise, playful and self-assured. Coincidentally this is also the ingredients list for her interview on Arvos with Tanya Ali.

Ahead of a run of sold out debut Australian shows, Mahalia swung by the studio to chat about songwriting, a kangaroo named Dot and the white male-dominated music industry as traversed by a young woman of colour from outside the city:

“[When I got signed] there wasn’t one person in the beginning that I felt I could relate to… cos at first it was like there’s no women here and then it was like hold on now there’s women but there’s no women of colour here… who’s going to understand me?”

The chat wound through dream collabs, why Mahalia writes about love all the time (because “just let me be a 20 year old who’s living a 20 year old’s life” ok?), Falls Festival, Field Day and Cardi B’s undeniable queen-ness:

“This is me speaking as a fan who generally loves her, even I sometimes watch her instagram and I’m like ‘ugh, girl what are you doing?’ But watching her on stage I was like you are amazing and you are a superstar, and I think people have to respect that.”

So much more than this too! Listen back to the whole chat up top.

Tune in to Arvos with Tanya Ali every Monday from 3pm