Kortney Jamaal Pollard, professionally known as Mali Music, is an American gospel singer-songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist born on January 12, 1988 in Phoenix, Arizona. Raised by a military mother, he traveled across the U.S. before settling in Savannah, Georgia. Showing early musical promise, Mali began performing in church at age 11—even teaching himself piano and drums—and soon became the church’s minister of music by the age of 12.
Signed to Provident, ByStorm, RCA, and briefly Akon’s KonLive, Mali Music released acclaimed independent albums The Coming (2008) and The 2econd Coming (2009), followed by his major-label debut Mali Is… (2014), which earned Grammy nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Gospel Performance/Song. His music blends gospel, R&B, hip-hop, and soul—reflecting his vision of “lifting the soul”—and he’s been featured in initiatives like BET’s Music Matters and on mainstream platforms such as American Idol. As a Grammy Award–winning artist, Mali continues to break genre boundaries while maintaining a gospel foundation through albums like The Book of Mali (2020)
