London Ladies Taking Over

Well I promised you I'd post my interview with Estelle and now I have delivered. Here she is:

SOHH Exclusive: Estelle Talks Collabo W/ Kanye West, Reps For The British Girls



In this SOHH exclusive, Estelle, the first artist to emerge on John Legend's new Homeschool Records label, opens up about her new album Shine, the British ladies taking over, and respecting Kanye West's "fresh."

A proud London native, Estelle is happy to celebrate the female British invasion in progress.

"We're taking over, one British at a time!" Estelle remarked. "I think it's just something different that hasn't been seen for awhile and seen before. We're just doing what we do and we're not apologizing for it -at last. Before, I think every other artist wanted to be an American, but now it's like 'Oh no I'm me. I'm British. I smoke fags [cigarettes], I say wanker and I do drink tea."

Transitioning deftly between singing and rapping, Estelle says her album reflects her three-year journey to reach a personal comfort zone; something she sings about in her title track "Shine."

"It's the wrap-up song for the album, the song that tells the whole story in three minutes," she said. "In the chorus I say, 'This is my song, I'm just like you, I've got to fight to stay strong, cause it glitters don't mean that it's gold but I'mma shine while my light's on.'

"The verses are about me being 100% real in every statement," she explained. "Sometimes I feel like crying and breaking down, but I've got to be on, I've got to stay regal, I've got to stay strong. It's that whole me being me moment, just being 100% happy being me and that's what the whole album is about."

Shine features production by Mark Ronson, Swizz Beatz, Wyclef Jean and John Legend as well as a guest appearance from Kanye West on the current single "American Boy."

"I was on my way to a club and I got a call like 'Come through, he's on his way now,'" Estelle said of her experience working with Ye. "I wasn't even dressed properly. That was the worst thing, looking halfway in front of Kanye, because you feel like a tramp. You can be looking semi-decent and you just automatically feel like a tramp because he's that fresh, all the time."

"He came in and gave me like forty bars and then we went to the club, " she continued. "It's inspiring just to watch him work. He's dope, he's really really dope.

Estelle's album Shine is due in stores April 29th via Homeschool/Atlantic Records.