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Hope Tala
British singer-songwriter (born 1997) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Hope Natasha McDonald (born 18 November 1997), known professionally as Hope Tala, is a British singer-songwriter. Her musical style has been described as pulling from R&B, Latin, neo soul, and bossa nova. Tala released her first studio album, Hope Handwritten, in February 2025.
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Early life
Hope Tala was born in West London to a Jamaican-descended Black father and a mother of British and Irish heritage.[5] She learned to play various musical instruments during her childhood.[1][5] Tala first started to sing at the age of 15 and wrote her first compositions during her study of AS-Level music.[6] At home, she experimented with Logic Pro, producing demos which she published on SoundCloud.[5][7][8] Tala describes her favourite instrument as the guitar, with a preference for nylon-string guitars but also enjoying acoustic and electric guitars.[9][10] Her moniker is derived from her birth name; "Tala" is a diminutive form of her middle name, Natasha.[1]
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Career
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 | This section needs to be updated. (March 2025) |
2018–2019: Studies, Starry Ache, Sensitive Soul
Tala studied English literature at the University of Bristol.[3] graduating with first-class honours in 2019.[4][11][12][10] Tala turned down the chance to pursue a master's degree at the University of Cambridge in favor of pursuing a career in music.[4][5][7][11][10] Tala finished her first and second EPs, Starry Ache and Sensitive Soul, while she was at university.[11] She finished her single "Lovestained" as she was finishing her dissertation.[11][13]
Tala's first single was "Blue",[14] released in 2018 which was later included on the EP Starry Ache.[15] She would proceed to release her singles "Lovestained" and "D.T.M." in 2019. "Lovestained" was written as Tala was working towards her degree in English literature.[16][6] Tala's "Lovestained" would later be placed on Rolling Stone's "50 Best songs of 2019" list at #8.[17] The two singles would be compiled into her EP Sensitive Soul.[18]
2020–present: Girl Eats Sun and other singles
Tala's "All My Girls Like To Fight" was her first song in 2020.[19] It was around this time that Tala had declined pursuing a master's degree in favour of a career in music.[20] Speaking to Wonderland, Tala described music as a "one-shot career"[20] and that she would have "regretted continuing her studies" when there was the opportunity to continue on later in life.[20] Tala described writing "All My Girls Like To Fight" as "constructing an expansive narrative in a song"[20] and she "wanted to portray women having strength and agency in the narrative".[21] The song would be included in her EP Girl Eats Sun.[20]
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Critical reception
Tala's All My Girls Like To Fight was listed as one of Barack Obama's favourite songs of 2020.[4][22] Her song "Tiptoeing" was chosen by Clara Amfo as BBC Radio One's "Hottest Record in the World" on 19 October 2021.[23][24]
Personal life
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
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References
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