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Living the American dream
By Zena Alkayat, Metro 17.03.08
Look who's back: Not so long ago Estelle was on the brink of obscurity. Now she's back with a new album and different approach to life
Look here too
There are few sure ways to reignite a flagging music career but getting chummy with Kanye West is likely to be one of them. And Estelle - an artist who emerged alongside urban acts such as Ms Dynamite back in 2002 and has since become one of British rap's forgotten stars - has gone one better. She has enlisted a who's who of US hip-hop heavyweights to create a comeback album of mega proportions.
'Meeting Kanye was amazing,' she says in her laid-back London drawl from behind a pair of super-sized sunglasses. 'I bumped into him in a restaurant in LA and he was cool as s***. He didn't have a clue who I was, though.'
That meeting, which happened about five years ago, was an auspicious one. Kanye introduced her to soul singer John Legend - an introduction that resulted in their firm friendship and her being signed to Legend's HomeSchool Records early last year. The subsequent LP, Shine (out March 31 on Atlantic), features guest efforts from Will.i.am, Wyclef Jean, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo and super-producer Swizz Beatz - an outstanding coup for an artist on the brink of obscurity. And the LP is preceded by the fruit of her collaboration with Kanye, single American Boy.
'John always says to me: "Britain doesn't know what they've got. They messed up with you. Your label messed up." So he started a label based on me. No one here wanted to offer me a deal and, the way I see it, if there are no jobs in your country and they're offering you one in America, you're going to go,' she blasts, her trademark say-what-you-feel policy still her most striking feature.
That same no-nonsense attitude meant Estelle refused to accept her relationship with her previous label, V2. 'They didn't know what to do with me. Was I a rapper? Was I a singer? I was clearly telling them: "Let me give you the plan: I can do all different types of music." But their egos were so large they couldn't take it.'
She didn't always face such an uphill battle. At one time, Britain couldn't get enough of Estelle Swaray's sharp rap and soulful vocals. Her 2004 debut album, The 18th Day, was a huge commercial and critical success, selling well off the back of hit single 1980 - a song named after the year she was born, depicting her impoverished childhood as one of eight children in West London.
She also had trends on her side. A posse of black, British urban artists - Jamelia, Mis-teeq, So Solid Crew and Terri Walker among them - were dominating the charts. A few years on and these artists have largely disappeared into the ether, possibly due to a new thirst for white boy-led indie rock and Duffy-style balladeers.
The 28-year-old Estelle, however, puts it down to the record labels' inability to identify with black artists. 'British labels just don't get it. There are not enough black executives at the top for them to get it. They just want you to sing about living on estates. They don't understand that you don't have to talk about shoot-and-kill just because you're black. There are other things.'
Her move to Brooklyn last year has had the desired effect, allowing her to express herself freely on subjects that matter - namely her love life over the past three years, something she talks about with typical abandon. Honesty, coupled with a stellar production crew, makes Shine a soulful record, packed with samples, killer dance floor hooks and original lyrical matter - it's an album that would sit happily between Mary J Blige and Lauryn Hill.
Estelle describes it as 'more confident and more real than The 18th Day', and she puts this down to her lengthy hiatus. 'I got to the point where I was fed up with so many people telling me how and who I was supposed to be. I've had four years to find out about myself and I realised it's OK to cry, it's OK to feel good about yourself. I'm 100 per cent me now.'
Estelle may feel self-assured but, with US talent all over the LP, you can't escape the fact that it just doesn't sound very British. 'This move wasn't about going over there and being an American artist. I wanted to go over there and be myself. It was easy because they appreciate good music,' she argues, defending herself against the idea she's turned her back on Britain. 'Besides, who wouldn't work with all these people if they had the chance?'
A fair point, and it's certainly working in her favour. Shine is currently making waves in the US and is set to do the same here. It's a shame it's taken a pack of American boys to raise Estelle's profile. But now it's up let's just hope, this time, it stays aloft.
The single, American Boy, is out on March 24. Shine is out on March 31.
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