Estelle is the rare one-name diva whose main appeal is her approachability. It's been four years since the round-the-way London girl's breakthrough, Kanye-abetted hit, "American Boy," but she's still the same proud graduate of the Lauryn Hill/Mary J. Blige school of warm, tough hip-hop R&B. Co-writer John Legend and guests like Rick Ross and Janelle Monáe help Estelle construct a multifaceted album – from the resilient post-breakup neo-soul of "Thank You" to the self-affirming boom-bap of "Speak Ya Mind." "I can be so pretentious/But he likes me all the same," she sings on the gingerly hopeful "Break My Heart"; it's her kind of realness, conversational and smooth just the same.

Listen to "Break My Heart":

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• Photos: Random Notes

“Is It True”

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."