she got the party started in the uk but it was an american boy that helped introduce estelle to the
world her ability to mix numerous musical genres together allowed her to stand out in a major way
amongst her peers in the industry all of her talent and success however couldn't prevent her
from experiencing betrayal and heartbreak at the hands of those she cherished most and sent her on
a journey to discover happiness again let's find out whatever happened to british singer songwriter
rapper record producer and actress estelle estelle fanta soiree came into the world on january 18
1980 in hammersmith west london england she is the second born of nine children to her senegalese
mother and grenadian father her early musical influences were what her parents had on heavy
rotation in the house like soca reggae dance hall african and caribbean music so naturally
she developed a taste for a variety of artists and genres as well such as british rock band
queen american jazz singer ella fitzgerald and jamaican reggae artist dennis brown
even though estelle was introduced to the world as a singer rapping was actually her first love
and by her late teens she was writing her own music and performing at numerous london clubs
her breakthrough single 1980 off her debut album free hit the streets in 2004. the album
also produced two other successful singles that no doubt held to stell win best newcomer at the
mobo awards a uk annual music award presentation honoring achievements in music of black origin
including hip hop r b soul reggae jazz gospel and african music
even though it seemed like things were going well for her initially estelle soon had a rude
awakening about what kind of sacrifices she would have to make to achieve worldwide startup after a
couple of struggle years of butting heads with her uk label estelle ultimately decided to pack
her bags and take the big leap across the pond to new york city to get her career back on track
the reason is quite simple the pursuit of a truly successful music career in the r b
genre was presenting itself to be a very tough task in the united kingdom there was also an
often unspoken and downplayed secondary component to that belief colorism even people in estelle's
own inner circle unfortunately bought into the madness one friend or ex-friend now said that
because of her dark skin and prominent african features her career would and could only go so far
estelle also became aware very quickly that trying to establish herself as a musical force to be
reckoned with in the u.s would also mean changing how she presented herself to the american public
at this time she decided to focus solely on singing and put rapping on the back burner
since her british accent was apparently a turn off to american fans of the genre
before she got settled in the big apple permanently she had already spent several
years traveling back and forth between london and the u.s but on one trip in particular she bumped
into a vip in la that would be instrumental in taking her career to the next level
estelle just happened to be hanging outside of one of the city's most famous eateries
roscoe's house of chicken and waffles where she noticed someone inside superstar rapper songwriter
record producer and fashion designer kanye west she patiently waited for him to exit the
restaurant and when he did she made her move she introduced herself and proceeded to ask him about
getting in touch with john legend who had already been a featured producer on her first album
kanye ended up inviting estelle to his studio to not only connect with jon but so they could
all begin working on her next album together at this point the stars couldn't have been any
more perfectly aligned estelle would have the honor of being the first artist to sign with
john's homeschool label and the following year her sophomore album shine was released in 2008.
though it was her second album it was the first to be released in the u.s
the american influence undeniably took over the album with features from the likes of will i am
mark ronson ceelo and john legend who also served as executive producer but it was her
grammy-winning double platinum smash hit american boy featuring kanye and inspired by all the cuties
that she was meeting in miami while recording the record that made everyone sit up and take notice
in addition to her first grammy win the album also garnered her two more mobo awards
that she happily jetted back to the uk to accept in person
it was actually on the very night of the award show that things suddenly started to unravel
a little birdie told her to keep a close eye on the people around her because they were not what
they seemed of course after hearing this the night came to an abrupt end and the four walls
of estelle's hotel room got an earful of her pain and anger in a 2012 interview with the independent
online she recalls that night saying these were people i thought i could trust but i was wrong
a lot of things were happening behind the scenes they were taking advantage of me
i was working working working barely seeing 20 but why they were who i should have probably
dumped a long time before but you know how it is you're on the road a lot away from home and family
and you want to have people around you that you like that you can trust after taking some time
to tour and just focus on herself estelle poured all of those vulnerable happy sad
depressed and joyful life experiences into what would end up being her third album all of me
everything came together when the timing was right and it was finally released in 2012. she revealed
in an interview that she in fact ended the long-term relationship that inspired much of the
album's content the very next day after she shot the video for the lead single break my heart and
two weeks after the gut-wrenching second single thank you was recorded she also made a point of
including a lot more wrapping this time around which she always wanted to showcase in her music
the following year estelle would take on several different ventures to expand her creative arsenal
she finally decided to do what many artists feel compelled to do who want to take creative control
of their work she announced that she was launching an independent label in partnership with bmg
with whom she had already had an established relationship with as a writer for the last
10 years around the same time estelle also began using her vocal cords for something
other than singing when she became the voice of garnett in the animated series
steven universe and if that wasn't enough she also launched a luxury collection of scarves
aptly titled scarves by soiree which is her last name love and relationships continue to be a major
theme in estelle's music and if we're keeping it real it is one of the best themes to sing about
since it's something every human being can relate to so it's only fitting that true romance her
appropriately titled fourth album touches on the many emotions one experiences during the
transition between ending one relationship and beginning a new one estelle finally honored her
fans request for years to do a full-length reggae album and dropped lovers rock her last album to
date in 2018. the title is named for the subgenre of reggae music that focuses on love songs in
particular functioning kind of like the r b of reggae the album also represents a full circle
moment in the fact that estelle grew up listening to a lot of reggae music played by her parents
and the themes in lover's rock are largely based on the dynamics of her parents relationship
throughout the making of the album and listening to all the stories she was told estella began to
discover and better understand why she duplicated some of their experiences in her own relationships
while estelle prides herself in taking her time to produce her music and counts on her
fans patience as they await her next album she always remains in creative mode looking
for different ways to express herself in 2020 she added radio hose to her already
multi-hyphenated name with the debut of the estelle show on apple music
in a promo video on their twitter page she explained what fans can expect saying the essence
of the estelle show is essentially like you're in my living room at my mom's house my mom's yard my
brothers and sisters kicking it throughout various stages of my life you're gonna hear some good
music you're gonna hear some banter it's gonna be vibes the world of estelle thanks for watching
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