Ili balances empowerment and introspection in her polished dance-pop. The alias of one-time X Factor U.K. contestant Emily Middlemas, she made her Ili debut with the EP Changes in 2019. A native of Glasgow, Middlemas was performing in bands as early as age nine and started writing her own songs at 13. She won the Birmingham, England-based singing competition TeenStar in July 2014 as a 15-year-old. Middlemas first competed on Britain's The X Factor later that year as part of its 11th season, though she didn't make it as far as the live broadcasts. That changed two years later, when the singer finished in fourth place on Season 13, during which she covered material ranging from Whitney Houston to Radiohead to the Chainsmokers. Her teen pop-styled debut single, "Lost and Found," saw release in 2017 and was followed by her first headlining tour of the U.K. The next year brought three more track releases before Middlemas decided to take her music in different direction. Rebranding as Ili, she held onto the uplifting quality of earlier songs while adopting a more sophisticated electronic sheen on "A Little Bit" in August 2019. The debut EP Changes followed a month later on the Gray London label. ~ Marcy Donelson