Healing Is The Headline: Bellah Reborn
Standing centre-stage in a story of rhythm, beats and resilience, Bellah is back stronger than ever. From theatre kid to UK R&B songstress, her voice carries weight—both in melody and in wisdom.
Bellah in 2025. Image via Press.
Bellah's journey began on the stage. By just five years old, she had already found her way to the West End, nurturing her natural-born talent within the walls of musical theatre schools. Today, her everlasting love of stage shows is born from that theatre kid within.
She lights up like a Christmas tree when listing her favourite musicals, from The Book of Mormon and We Will Rock You to Wicked, Hairspray and Hamilton. The songstress muses, "I thought I was gonna do performing arts at first, but God had other plans."
Her thespian talents were met with a knack for writing and poetry as she grew older. This collision of creative gifts solidified to form the blocks of her yellow brick road, leading Bellah down a path that ended at the door of the music industry.
Her key to the kingdom was her affinity for R&B, a realm within which she has rightfully carved her place. "From the beginning of my journey, R&B has never been the 'most done’ thing in the UK. But I will always do it, regardless of the climate or what people think."
Spurred on by this passion-driven grit, Bellah hustled and delivered, executing some of her most heralded work in the 2020 offering, The Art of Conversation—an EP that features her beloved hit, "Home", on its tracklist. Now standing at over 40 million streams on Spotify alone, the song is a perfect example of the nostalgic, quintessential-R&B-permeated core of her art.
In 2021 came another key breakthrough moment, in the wake of her Afro-infused opus "Evil Eye", reinforced by her iconic Colors Show performance of the track. Roll on 2022, when Bellah released her fourth EP, Adultsville, truthfully charting a transformative coming-of-age period in her life.
Along the way, Bellah has gracefully acquired BET and MOBO nominations, and shared stages with the most eminent Black women in the industry, supporting none other than Tems, Victoria Monet and NAO on their respective tours.
But if you've been tapped into her journey, you'll know that Bellah has been a little quiet for the past few years. Scathing physical and mental health issues forced her to take an unwelcome hiatus and, in a moment of raw truth, Bellah tells us, "I was going through hell." But even hell couldn't break her.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Bellah is back, weaving her battle wounds into a tapestry that traces the steps in her story. As she sits down with The Culture Crypt, the curtains are pulled closed, and she opens up to us wholeheartedly—it's a privilege to be welcomed backstage.
The Culture Crypt: What would be the headline of your life right now?
Bellah: "Ooh, the headline is… letting go. It's surrender—willing and unwilling. It's about being ok with the plans not panning out exactly how you thought they would, about rewiring your brain and learning how to embrace this version of events and stop mourning the ones that you had in your head."
That's powerful. It sounds like a transformative time. And what is bringing you joy right now?
"In a very strange way, being selfish is bringing me a lot of joy. In my career, I've been very selfless and very giving. Now I'm just kind of revelling in the fact that I've built a foundation and I don't have to crucify myself in order for people to tune in and listen."
And thinking about this stage of your career, tell me how your recent release, "Smoov", came together.
"We actually made the song on Zoom. I made it in January with Ari PenSmith [producer, Beyonce's Lion King, The Gift, Goldlink's Diaspora]. I was like, 'Hey, why haven't we recreated songs in the vein of 'Evil Eye'? Why haven't we made more of these Afro-fusion situations?'
It took a couple of months for it to finalise but [Ari] gave it to [producer] P2J and he made it exactly what it is. It was nice to write about not being disappointed by a man for once!"
And before that, you released "Boo Thang Bootcamp", which leans into that more classic Bellah-style R&B sound. What's the story behind this track?
"I made 'Boo Thang Bootcamp' literally the moment I finished Adultsville in 2022. When we'd finalised the tracks for that project, I literally felt exhausted and didn't think I could make any music ever again—I'd just put everything on the line.
But [fellow UK R&B artist and friend] Mnelia was going to LA for two weeks, and I was like, 'Hey sister, can I jump in your suitcase? I think I need a break.' So I stayed with her and during that week, I made that song. It was great for me to realise that I don't necessarily have a limit, maybe I just needed some respite. It just kind of spilt out of me."
If you had to create your own festival right now, who would be some of your headliners?
"That is a very good question because I love good performers… Brandy would be headlining. Brandy headlines my life. SZA too—my queen… I would have some Kehlani, Summer Walker. Jai'Len Josey would absolutely be headlining, she is so incredible. Storm Ford, Isaia Huron.
Let's bring the UK back into it… I'd get a kwn in there, Sasha Keable, some Mnelia up in there—also Destin Conrad. Monaleo, too. She'd be there rapping her pretty face off. Just all these incredible, amazing, fantastic, sensational artists. Oh, and Doja Cat!"
Oh yes, Doja Cat is great.
"She is one of my biggest inspirations in terms of knowing how to transform herself in every era that she's in. I know people talk about how you need to have a strong brand and visual identity, but I love the transformation."
How do you think your inner theatre kid shows up in your artistry?
"Do you know what's so crazy? I don't think she's shown up yet. Right now, I feel like Bellah in all her glory still has a cage around her, like they haven't let her out. When I'm let out of the cage, no one's gonna be ready! The production is going to be dramatic… I feel like I will return to the stage one day too, but as an Andrew Lloyd Webber type person."
You also had a major role in Channel 4's TV adaptation of Queenie last year. How was it to step into your acting bag again in that way?
"It was taxing, but the experience was just so fab. 11 out of 10, would recommend. And Candace Carty-Williams [author of Queenie] is probably one of my favourite people on the planet right now. She was literally at my house a couple of days ago. The relationship we built is so incredible.
It was just lovely to be a part of somebody else's project. When it's your own work, and you're super obsessive about things, it can suck the joy out of it. But it was nice to contribute to somebody else's vision."
“Right now I feel like Bellah in all her glory still has a cage around her, like they haven’t let her out. When I’m let out of the cage, no one’s gonna be ready!”
Before releasing music this year, you took a hiatus. If you're comfortable, could you tell us a little bit about what that looked like?
"Yes, I had some time away. I was severely unwell and I had to take time out because of my health. Honestly, recovery is the overarching word for that time because I had to heal, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. My mental health was on a decline.
As an artist, I was experiencing rejection at a rate that I had never had before. It was disorientating for me, I'm not gonna lie to you. I had to really hold onto something 'cause it was giving me vertigo—I was spun. There was a lot of cognitive dissonance: a lot of things weren't aligning.
There was a lot of self-work, a lot of relearning how to seek my validation inwardly. 'Cause for whatever reason, when other people say things, they hold more weight. So it was all about relearning how to let my words hold more weight. That's what the hiatus was for."
And after having gone through all of that, who is Bellah today?
"Whew, that's a great question. Bellah today is someone who has removed her gift from its pedestal. I'm more connected to the idea that things flow through me, rather than basing my identity on what I can offer people.
Before it was like, 'I sing and that's why I'm important. I make good music and that's where all my worth is.' But I'm no longer using my talents as a guarantee for popularity, being liked, accepted or understood.
It's about learning that you are special regardless. My mum's favourite saying is, 'You're a human being and not a human doing.' It's about separating myself from what I do.
That's really helping me because, I'm not gonna lie to you, for a very long time I really hated music—I was so detached from it because I felt like I had fallen from a very high height. And when your hobby becomes your career there's a button that switches and it gets really weird and dark and muddy.
But slowly and surely I'm viewing things as I did before, I'm getting back to the place where I was really just excited about creating."
We've spoken about music, acting and personal growth. What's next for Bellah?
"So do I. I hope that I can just continuously put out art for the next few years. I would love to start touring soon and to get some accolades—let's get that recognition! I hope that this weird curse or stigma that we have over the UK R&B genre lessens. And I really want to show people who I am at my best. I want to stick around so that the things I have to do can turn into the things I want to do. That's what I wanna be around for."
Stream "Smoov" below: