Estelle (musician)
| Estelle | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Estelle Fanta Swaray |
| Born | 18 January 1980 |
| Origin | Hammersmith, London, England |
| Genres | R&B, soul, hip hop, hip hop soul, reggae |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, model |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | V2, Atlantic |
| Associated acts | David Guetta, Sean Paul, Kanye West, John Legend, will.i.am, Talib Kweli, Karl Hinds, Keezo Kane |
| Website | www.estellemusic.com |
Estelle Fanta Swaray (born 18 January 1980[1][2]) commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English Grammy Award winning R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England. Born of a Senegalese mother and a Grenadian father, Estelle grew up in West London in a large family of eight brothers and sisters and an extended family of cousins. During childbirth, Estelle’s mother had a near death experience, which influenced Estelle's choice for her first album title, The 18th Day.[3]
[edit] The 18th Day
In 2004 she broke into the charts with "1980" and "Free" and won a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer. Both of the videos were directed by Andy Hylton[4] and received much airplay on music channels. "Free" was written by Estelle and produced by Jimmy Hogarth. Her first album, The 18th Day charted at number 35 in the UK Albums Chart.[5] Estelle teamed up with short lived pop band 3SL for their single "Touch Me Tease Me".
[edit] Shine
In 2008, Estelle rose to fame with her collaboration with rapper Kanye West, titled "American Boy". This song reached the top 10 in many countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada, as well as achieving number-one status on the UK Singles Chart[5][6] and in Belgium[7] and Israel. The song won many awards worldwide, including Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. It was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards. "American Boy" was Number 7 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.[8] Shine was released following the single on John Legend's HomeSchool label, reaching the albums chart in most countries worldwide, including number 6 in the UK.[5] Shine sold enough copies to be certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, and was shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Mercury Music Prize. Estelle has also released a new single with American rapper Busta Rhymes called "World Go Round", from his album Back on My B.S., which was released on 19 May 2009.
In February 2009, the song "Star" was released; it is also used for Crystal Light commercials. In 2009, Estelle started working on her upcoming third studio album, All of Me. On 21 August it was confirmed that Estelle was working with David Guetta on the upcoming album.[9] Estelle recently made a cameo appearance in the video for new star Mr Hudson for his single "Supernova". Estelle made an appearance on the 11 August 2009 episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. She performed the song "Good Girls Go Bad" with Cobra Starship in Leighton Meester's absence. Estelle also appears on the song "Rollacoasta", co-written by her and American singer-songwriter Robin Thicke, with whom the song appears on his album, Sex Therapy.
[edit] All of Me
Estelle confirmed her third album would be entitled All of Me. The album was originally lead by the single "Freak" featuring Kardinal Offishall and produced by David Guetta. The video premiered on her website on 26 February 2010.[10] The original second single from the album was announced as being "Fall in Love", which featured versions featuring Nas and John Legend. Due to the underperformance of both "Freak" and "Fall in Love", both songs were ultimately left off the final track listing for All of Me.[11] However, "Freak" was featured on both the Step Up 3D soundtrack and the reissue of David Guetta's album One Love, entitled One More Love. In 2010, Estelle also modeled at Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief runway show for The White Ribbon Alliance to raise funds for mothers in Haiti. She was also featured on Reflection Eternal's new album with the song Midnight Hour and last track of Gucci Mane's album The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted.
In 2011, it was announced that "Break My Heart", featuring Rick Ross would be released as the new lead single from All of Me. It was released for download on 26 April 2011 and released to US urban radio stations on May 17, 2011.[12][13] The song peaked at 33 on the U.S. Hip-Hop/R&B, the week of 2 July 2011.[14] The following week the song rose to 37.[15] Dual second singles were released in the US and UK. In the US, the second single was announced as being "Thank You" whereas "Back to Love" was issued in the UK. Estelle subsequently confirmed on Twitter that All of Me will be released on February 28, 2012 in the US.[16] In the UK, All of Me will be released on 12 March 2012.[11]
[edit] Artistry
Her mother was a huge reggae fan and her father built home-made speaker cabinets. She spent her childhood listening to her parent’s reggae records and her aunt’s soul collection. Then she discovered hip hop. “I got into hip hop from my uncle, he was always playing us Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane; he was a bad boy and my mum wasn’t really happy that I was hanging out with him”.[3]
[edit] Discography
- 2004: The 18th Day
- 2008: Shine
- 2012: All of Me
[edit] Awards
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | BET Awards | Best New Artist | Herself | Nominated |
| BET J Virtual Awards | Female Artist of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Soul Approved - Best New Artist | Won | |||
| Song of the Year | "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
| Mercury Music Prize | Shine | Shortlisted | ||
| MOBO Awards | Best UK Female | Herself | Won[17] | |
| Best Song | "American Boy" | Won[17] | ||
| Best Video | Nominated | |||
| Best Album | Shine | Nominated | ||
| Best R&B Act | Herself | Nominated | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best UK Video | "American Boy" | Nominated | |
| UMA Awards | Best Album | Shine | Nominated | |
| Best Collaboration | Herself | Won | ||
| Best Crossover Chart Act | "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
| Best R&B Act | Herself | Nominated | ||
| World Music Awards | World's Best New Artist | Nominated | ||
| Best New R&B Act | Won | |||
| Vodafone Live Music Awards | Best Female | Nominated | ||
| The 02 Silver Clef Awards | Download of the Year | "American Boy" | Won | |
| 2009 | BRIT Awards | British Female Solo | Herself | Nominated |
| British Single | "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
| Grammy Awards | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Best Rap/Sung Collaboration | Won | |||
| Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical | will.i.am; "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
[edit] References
- ^ Estelle MTV UK
- ^ "How Estelle headed to the US and scored her first No. 1". Mirror.co.uk. 5 June 2008. http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/entertainment/music/2008/06/05/how-estelle-headed-to-the-us-and-scored-her-first-no-1-89520-20596225/. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- ^ a b "Low-Life - UK Hip Hop Story - Est'elle - Biography". Ukhh.com. http://www.ukhh.com/bhh/artists/estelle-biog.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ "Andy Hylton". Andy Hylton. http://www.andyhylton.com. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ a b c "Estelle UK Chart Positions and Trajectories". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=218. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
- ^ "Estelle & Kanye West hold on to Number One spot". New Musical Express. http://www.nme.com/news/estelle/35520. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
- ^ "Estelle feat. Kanye West - American Boy Belgian Charts/Worldwide". Ultratop/ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/en/showitem.asp?interpret=Estelle+feat%2E+Kanye+West&titel=American+Boy&cat=s. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
- ^ "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone (25 December 2008) Retrieved 25 December 2008
- ^ David Guetta : the story about "One Love" feat. Estelle YouTube
- ^ March 3, 2010 - this was posted in our Music Video Section (2010-03-03). "Music Video: Estelle ft Kardinal Offishall – Freak - TheNext2Shine:Exclusive RNB Music Downloads". Blog.thenext2shine.com. http://blog.thenext2shine.com/2010/music-video-estelle-ft-kardinal-offishall-freak. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
- ^ a b "Play.com - Buy Estelle - All Of Me online". Play.com. http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/8922097/-/Product.html. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ "hmvdigital UK - Break My Heart by Estelle". HMV Digital. http://www.hmvdigital.com/artist/estelle/break-my-heart. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ "Urban/UAC Future Releases - R&B, Hip Hop, Release Schedule and Street Dates". Allaccess.com. http://www.allaccess.com/urban/future-releases. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/estelle-featuring-rick-ross/656852
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/r-b-hip-hop-songs?begin=31&order=position
- ^ https://twitter.com/#!/EstelleDarlings/status/144142671500419072
- ^ a b "Estelle picks up two gongs at the MOBO Awards 2008". mirror.co.uk Celebs. http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/2008/10/16/estelle-picks-up-two-gongs-at-the-mobo-awards-2008-115875-20807834/. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
[edit] External links
 |
Book: Estelle |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
- Official website
- Estelle interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' March 2008
- Interview with Estelle on Holy Moly
- Interview at britishhiphop.co.uk, June 2008
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- 1980 births
- Living people
- Atlantic Records artists
- Black British singers
- British people of Senegalese descent
- English female singers
- English people of Grenadian descent
- English rappers
- English rhythm and blues singers
- Estelle (musician)
- Female rappers
- Grammy Award winners
- Hip hop singers
- World Music Awards winners
