BEAUTY & GLAM
A CHAT WITH MUSIC
ARTIST MAI LEE
By CILLAH HALL
The Mai Lee brand is known across St.
Louis for great dining. That is if you are not
in tune with the region’s music industry.
In a different circle, Mai Lee is a stunning,
versatile, seductive musician whose talent
continues to blossom. When she is not
serving up some of the best food in the
city, Mai Lee is in the studio. Her new
single, “Nobody 1993” is a must-have. It has
garnered widespread radio play and landed
Mai Lee on the national platform.
Gazelle: What inspires you?
Mai Lee: What inspires me is the possibility
of being the first Asian R&B/Pop superstar
in America. Every little girl and every little
boy in my native country of Vietnam who
aspires to be something greater than what
society allows them to be is what inspires
me. To spread my family’s legacy from what
they built here in St. Louis also inspires me.
Gazelle: How do you juggle music and
family obligations at the restaurant?
Mai Lee: It is very difficult to juggle the
restaurant and music. I love them both. I
can’t live without either, but I have to make
time to give each one 100 percent. It’s a
challenge, but I do it just like a mother who
has two kids - one kid needs this and the
other kid needs that. You can’t love one
more than the other. You just have to give
them both the proper attention they need. I
work on music during the week and I work at
the restaurant on the weekends. Yes, they do
intertwine at times, but I just have to make it
work. Sometimes I have to go into the office
at the restaurant to work on music, and
sometimes when I’m home, I have to leave
the music to tend to the restaurant. At the
end of the day, they both pay off because
without the restaurant, my family and I
would not be who we are. Without music, I
wouldn’t be who I am.
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Gazelle: Who are your music influences?
Mai Lee: My musical influences are Bradd
Young, Vega, Post Malone, Tory Lanez, Keith
Ape, Okasian, Jhene Aiko, Brandy, Toni
Braxton, Mary J. Blige, Sade, Imogen Heap,
Kanye West, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake.
GAZELLE STL