Estelle's time to Shine

05-04-2008 13:28

As one of eight children growing up in a house bursting with extended family, Estelle Swaray must have struggled to get heard.At 28-years-old that is no longer a problem, as all of hip-hop royalty, it seems, wants a piece of this sassy west Londoner.After moving Stateside following a brief and potentially soul-destroying spell when she almost, but not quite, broke the British charts, she hooked up with her in-the-know pal, soul singer John Legend, and became the first artist to sign to his label HomeSchool Records, as part of a big-money deal with Atlantic Records. Thanks to Legend's bulging contacts book, not to mention Estelle's unique and gritty London appeal, the singer has now cut her second album 'Shine' - which is released in the UK on March 31 - with the help of a heady feast of the Who's Who of urban hitmakers.The dizzy credits list includes Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, Mark Ronson, Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green, with Legend spearheading the project as executive producer.Speaking about his latest protégé, Legend gushed: "I'm thrilled to be a part of Estelle's career. This album is truly an accomplishment. She will be one of the most of exciting breakthrough talents of 2008. Mark my words."Although the first single off the album 'Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)' was a disappointment, failing to chart in both the UK and US when it was released last November, Estelle's career has finally got the lease of life it rightly deserves with her second track.

'American Boy', which was released in the UK on March 24, is a disco-style dance-infused funky tune featuring Kanye West and Estelle exchanging quick quips and slick rhymes about WAGs and designer suits.

Explaining the inspiration behind the song, which is produced by will.i.am, Estelle said: "We were messing about and I said, 'I'm going to make John Legend like house music, whether he likes it or not.' And he started to like the beat and came up with the hook idea. It was good stuff."

The song - which is currently being heavily rotated on music channel MTV on both sides of the Atlantic - debuted in the number one spot in the UK charts last week and has already made head-way in the US positioning at 73 on the Billboard Hot R+B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, with insiders predicting she will soon break the main Billboard Hot 100.

Her album 'Shine' looks to replicate the single's success, boasting a chart-topping blend of polished American production and Estelle's bold, brassy and brave street poetry.

Her ability for story-telling through rap has led to comparisons with Lauryn Hill, a comparison Estelle has heard before.

She said: "I've been hearing that through my whole career. I'm pretty bored of the statement, but in the same breath she's a legend. If people listen to my album the way they listened to 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' then that means I'm good."

However, 'Shine' is much more than just a lazy imitation of Lauryn Hill - it is an exciting and refreshing blend of rap, reggae, soul, hip-hop and 1940s dancehall.

In fact, Estelle's refusal to be pigeonholed into one genre was one of her major problems while she was in the UK. It was also an issue that reared its ugly head Stateside, with record executives unsure whether to market her as a rapper or a singer.

She explained: "People were patting me on the back with one hand and saying to John Legend behind the other, 'Don't do this. I don't get it. She's too varied.'

"Then will.i.am came up with 'American Boy', and that freaked everyone out. They said, 'How are you going to do a house-music track, then do reggae?' And he went, 'She can do everything.' I thought, 'At last. Yes.' "