Mahalia says making her debut album was a "make-or-break situation".
The rising Neo soul star has admitted she poured everything she has into ‘Love and Compromise’ and found herself going on a "a real emotional roller coaster" writing the tracks about heartbreak and former lovers.
The ‘Simmer’ singer also questioned why she was putting herself through the "tough" experience of laying her heart on her sleeve through her music and admitted it "almost broke" her.
She told the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column: "It’s been blood sweat and tears, it’s been a real journey and a real process, everything I have has gone into this first record.
"There are so many songs that I never managed to get on the album because they were just so hard to write.
"I had so many moments during the process where I was like: ‘What have I signed up to? Why am I going through this?’
"It’s a real test within yourself to go through that, particularly if you write your own music, it’s always coming from my heart and that is tough at times.
"It’s a make-or-break situation, a real emotional roller coaster."
Mahalia also insisted that she no longer feels it’s necessary to tell her ex-lovers when she has penned a song about them.
She said: "I am burning bridges for my music, but this is my music, it’s like well it is worth it."
Meanwhile, the ‘Proud of Me’ singer recently said she wants to make songs that are suitable for impressionable teenagers as she feels strongly that artists have a responsibility to their audience.
She explained: "I’m trying to put out songs that I’d be happy for my baby cousin to hear.
"I’m not naive to the fact that girls of 15 know a lot more than their parents think they do, but I want to get a good message out to that lot because at their age songs can have a massive impact.
"India Arie had one called ‘I Am Not My Hair,’ which meant so much to me because I lived in a predominantly white area and I was always confused about how my hair looked.
"If you decide to do this, you should accept that you have a duty to your audience."
Mahalia says ‘tough’ debut album was ‘make-or-break situation’
