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WHO Talk about a self-made star: British singer-rapper Estelle spent her childhood "flipping secular music to gospel" with her eight siblings. "We'd take Brandy's 'Best Friend' and make it about God being your best friend," says the twenty-seven-year-old West London native, born Estelle Swaray. Years later, she took a job at a London record shop frequented by stars like Talib Kweli, and started making her own rap albums. But local labels were baffled by her unique style. "That's been the story of my career," Estelle says, sighing. " 'We don't know what to do with you because it's not been done before.' So I just do it myself."
SOUND Estelle started a label, released mix tapes and approached a pre-College Dropout Kanye West cold after spotting him outside Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles in Los Angeles. Kanye hooked her up with John Legend, and the two R&B singers hit it off at a studio the next day, and later collaborated on The 18th Day, her debut full-length, which got play nearly everywhere but the States. Together, Legend and Estelle also prepped her forthcoming album, Shine, the first release on Legend's Homeschool Records. Kanye, Mark Ronson, Swizz Beatz and Cee-Lo make cameos on the disc, which swings with the boogie funk of "American Boy" and reggae-rooted tracks like "Magnificent."
KEY TRACK "Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)" A groovy girl-power twist on Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You."
REMINDS ME OF . . . When Estelle jumps from singing the hook of the Will.i.am-produced soul-hop single, "Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)," into a laid-back but feisty rap, it's nearly impossible not to mouth the words "Lauryn Hill" — even Wyclef Jean says Estelle's an artistic dead ringer for the Fugee. But Legend says his éprotégé holds her own creatively. "I think because she's West African and West Indian and British, that unique blend comes through in the eclectic nature of the album," he says.
Cementing that point, Estelle reveals, "Freddie Mercury is my dude, and I loved Guns n' Roses, Aerosmith and Duran Duran." And if that sounds like a strange combination of influences to you, she doesn't really mind. "Love me or hate me, who gives a damn?" she says with a laugh. "I'm a real chick."