Vula Malinga

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Vula Malinga
Malinga performing with Basement Jaxx at the Orange Warsaw Festival in 2013
Background information
Born	(1980-05-05) May 5, 1980 (age 41) United States
Origin	Hackney, London, England
Genres	Dance
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2001–present
Labels	DivaGeek Records
Associated acts	Basement Jaxx

Vula Malinga (born May 5, 1980) is an American-born English singer. Born in the United States to South African parents, she was raised in Hackney, London.^[1] Her religious parents supported her singing talents by allowing her to join the church choir, which resulted in her becoming one of the lead singers for the London Community Gospel Choir.

This brought her to the notice of Basement Jaxx, with whom she sang lead on their single "Oh My Gosh". The collaboration continues to this day, and led to her supporting fellow Basement Jaxx singer Sam Sparro on his tour.

In 2007, she sang lead locals on BBC South's re-recording of the hymn "Amazing Grace", created to help mark the 200 years since the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act.^[2] In 2008, Malinga began developing her own music under her own record label, DivaGeek Records, releasing her first single "Wondering Why" in October.

In 2009, she sang support vocals for Dizzee Rascal on his 2009 album Tongue N' Cheek, and has supported him on live appearances, including Live Lounge, Later... with Jools Holland and the 2009 BBC Electric Proms.

"Better Days", the title song of Incognito's 2016 album In Search of Better Days, features Malinga as lead singer.

In 2019, she collaborated as featured artist with English DJ Riton and Dutch producer Oliver Heldens on the song "Turn Me On", which interpolates "Doctor Love" by First Choice and "Don't Go" by Yazoo.^[3]

Vula performed live at Trevor Nelson's Soul Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019.^[4]

She is currently^[when?] performing with The Horne Section on BBC's Crouchy's Year Late Euros.^{[citation needed]}

Vula was a backing singer for Paul Weller when he performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican on 15 May 2021

Discography (as vocalist)[]

• MJ Cole – "Wondering Why" (2003)
• MJ Cole & Wideboys featuring Vula – "Nothing But Trouble" (2005)
• Wideboys & MJ Cole featuring Vula – "Body Language" (2005)
• Basement Jaxx – "Oh My Gosh" (2006)
• Basement Jaxx – "Hush Boy"
• Basement Jaxx – "Galactical" (2014)
• Background vocals on the Sam Smith song "Pray"
• Riton and Oliver Heldens featuring Vula – "Turn Me On"

References[]

External links[]

• VulaVocals on Myspace