Discover: Mazal Cobb
BRINGING THE HEART AND SOUL OF R&B FROM ISRAEL TO PHOENIX
Mazal Cobb, 20, is an up-and-coming R&B artist who's bringing a new age style of R&B with an old school sound. Born and raised in Israel, Mazal comes from a family of musicians, and was exposed at an early age to old-school R&B courtesy of her mother and father. Mazal shared, “My dad always had a bunch of instruments, so growing up we were constantly inspired to create and we just got really comfortable with music in general. We were really just a musical family.” Mazal also shared that both of her brothers are musicians, with their specialties being rap and songwriting.
When asked to describe her style of music, Mazal shared that her heart lives in R&B. “I grew up listening to R&B, my mom loves old school R&B and it was always playing throughout the house.” Mazal is a singer, performer, and R&B artist, and her singing days date back to when she was a child. “I can’t remember when I actually started singing, but I really started performing when I was 18 years old. I knew from a young age that being a performer and a singer/songwriter was something I wanted to do forever.” Mazal’s first onstage appearance was at her graduation, and she remembers one of her closest friends giving her advice before going onstage. Mazal shared “One of my homeboys told me,
“You better not fuck this up, because this is how people are going to remember you. So you better go out there and kill it”
“That really stuck with me. So ever since then, I’ve just kept that focus and I treat every performance as if it is the most important one of my career- because that is how people are going to remember you.”
In terms of musical influences, Mazal shared that her biggest inspirations are Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, both of which are old-school style R&B artists. Mazal also shared that she loves to listen to Ginuwine, and that she used to use her cousin’s Walkman to listen to tapes of his music. When thinking of new-school influences, Mazal says, “Frank Ocean- that's my guy. New school is so different lately and it really shows growth in the genre. I feel like a lot of newer artists are taking R&B and blending it together with other genres, and it is creating an entirely new type of music.” Mazal expressed that she has an ear for all R&B, and that she “isn't picky at all” when it comes to who she's listening to.
“My brothers really helped to open my eyes and ears to a genre that I never took seriously before, a whole side of rap that I never considered to be for me. After opening up and exploring that genre, it created this sort of balance for me in that I have this soft, sensual R&B, and then there's also this young, reckless trap music influence.”
When asked to describe her music to listeners, Mazal felt the words “soft, gentle, and pure” were the best ones to explain her sound. Mazal says, “I definitely have a new-school sound.” Mazal also spoke about the message she wants her music to send to listeners, and said the following:
“I want my music to send all different kinds of messages, as well as so many different messages. Be yourself. Chase happiness, not money. Love is endless- if you have felt it once, you can feel it again. Overall peace.”
Mazal also spoke on the Phoenix music community, describing it as “Very underrated, and very unexpected.” She also shared that Poetic Soul is a spot she frequents, as it is a place where individuals can display and showcase their art, regardless of what form of art it is.
“There are singers, poets, writers, and rappers that come out to Poetic Soul. The first time I went there they showed me so much love, and embraced me with open arms. It is a really comfortable environment, it feels so natural to be there and it really solidifies my belief that my place is on the stage.”
Fans can find Mazal there every Wednesday, performing her soul warming R&B. Find Mazal on instagram at @mazalcobb, as well as her music on all streaming platforms.