Estelle, TouchESTELLE
Touch
One very bright - and early – late July morning, Touch stands outside West Kensington tube as two big black Chrysler people-carriers pull up in front of us. “It must be a celebrity in there,” whispers one kid to another at the nearby bus stop as both try to peer through the impenetrably tinted windows. And they’d be right: it’s Estelle and her entourage here to pick us up. The doors slide open, we dive in and both vehicles pull off in the direction of Fulham where today’s magical mystery tour begins. Intrigued by the truly intimate stories that unfold on her debut album ‘The 18 th Day’ we’re off to see Estelle’s London – the places where she grew up and started out in the hip hop game. The convoy isn’t on the road for long though, as it’s only a matter of minutes before we’re outside the house she grew up in and sings about in her recent top 20 single ‘1980’.
ESTELLE’S TOP THREE CAREER TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
Be Yourself
“Get to know yourself as an artist. Stay true to whatever you’re about and don’t let people put you in a box. If you rap but in a month’s time you want to sing, then sing. You’ve got to get to know the business too or else you’ll get taken for a ride. The bottom line is always money. If they can make you into something that’s going to be a sure fire it, that’s what they’ll do. That’s general, that’s standard, so don’t let yourself be forced into something that doesn’t feel right.”
Be Seen
“Go to every single open mic show you can. That’s what I did. I was like, ‘I rap, can I get on that rap?’ until it got to the point that promoters gave up and said: ‘This little girl wants to rap, look let her on the stage’. Be in people’s faces all day. You have to be persistent.”
Be Smart
“You can be offered a million deals if you’re around a million people but you’ll know it’s the right one if you’re with the right people. If you feel at home with them and you know you’re going to want to still be working with them in ten year’s time then go for it. If not, don’t do it – you’ll only get pissed off.”
“I only live down the road now and all my family live within ten minutes. I like to keep it West London,” she smiles as her beauty team bustle around her – the make-up artist pokes her vigorously with a cotton bud, the hair person puts a finishing gloss to her newly extended curls and the stylist fusses with the laces of the spanking new pair of high tops that complete her first outfit of the day. She may be on home turf but it’s clear a lot has changed since she actually lived on Cedarne Road.
It’s a quiet street of three-story townhouses and corner shops. So which crafty side road did Estelle sneak her first snog on, then? “There were no cheeky snogs. There was only church and back. My mum didn’t let us out until we were 14 or 15 because ‘round the corner is Fulham Court which is a really rough estate. One of my best friends is from there and her mum was the same.” One of nine brothers and sisters, Estelle’s mum did a great job of raising them right. The clean-living 24-year-old looks the picture of health despite her current gruelling schedule. This is her fourth photo shoot in as many days, her mobile is constantly off the hook and yesterday she filmed the video to her next single ‘Free’. Look closely at the rabble of friends and family that make up the extras on the Hackney film set and you’ll also spy industry pals Jamelia, Shystie, John Legend, Shanzay and Ty among others, all there to support both the song and it’s singer.
“’Free’ is about not hearing all the stereotypes that society want to put on you that if you’re young and urban, you got to be a rapper or a gangster and wear lots of jewellery. The song’s basically saying don’t be less than yourself and don’t feed into the negative. I did it with Mega from So Solid Crew because they’re always getting blamed for everything under the sun that goes wrong with young black people. I think that’s wack. We have to be more realistic. They’re actually really cool people and if you listen to his lyrics its about being in the ghetto, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be bad.”
The first set of photos taken, it’s back in the convoy and onto the next stop, Estelle’s one-time church. As soon as we get there a load of her old friends come pouring out to say hello. “The last time I saw you, you were ‘this’ high!” she screams at a strappingly tall young man. “I’d carry you around under my arm.” This boast is hard to believe seeing as her head currently only levels his chest height. “And back then you had an afro ‘this’ high,” he jests, holding his hand inches above it. “Yeah, until I discovered Dax that is,” she retorts, the pair of them cracking up with laugher.
After a quick detour via Estelle’s current pad for another costume change it’s down to Soho for a visit to Deal Real, the record emporium she worked at as a teenager. This is where she served the who’s who of hip hop including Fallacy, who helped take her passion into the public eye. “Lots of people said I should rap but Fallacy was the one who made me get out there and do it. He showed me how to go about it – where to go, who to chat to - and it was through the shop I got my first proper show opening up for Talib Kwali.”
Since then Estelle has continued to take her destiny into her own hands. Whether it’s recording with Skitz or Blak Twang or performing with Jamelia or Terri Walker, she’s been slowly planting solid roots from which to climb. Instead of waiting to be discovered, she set up her own label Stellarents and released her independent mixtapes and singles such as ‘Excuse me’, ‘Do You Like It’ and ‘Take It Off’. And holding back on the majors, Estelle’s career has followed a natural curve over the past four years that has lead to her new deal with V2/J-Did. “It was the only label that said they’d support me whatever I wanted to do. It wasn’t about Estelle aka Ms. Dynamite aka whoever is popular at the time. It’s about Estelle aka Estelle. That was it really,” she says. “Plus they didn’t try to throw artists at me to work with who would just be using me just to be credible. Get the fuck out.”
You’ll find a host of entirely hot producers on ‘The 18 th Day’ hailing from both the US and UK including One Up (Mya, J-Lo), C-Swing (The Beta Band), Thayod Ausar (Xzibit, G-Unit), James Poyser (Common, The Roots, Eryka Badu) and long-time Estelle collaborator Joe Buddah. “There are lots of different styles on the album – a lot of singing, a lot of rapping - but it’s all soulful music. And you won’t hear anything that I went through four years ago. The lyrics are all fresh, all really deep stuff I wouldn’t have even told anyone. It’s all 100 per cent Estelle and it’s going to get deeper as I grow up, so stay tuned.”
Take ‘Maybe’ for example, a track about her falling in love with someone when she already had a man. “That song is so personal to the point that my present boyfriend hates to hear it. A lot of people have been through that situation but they haven’t said it, so it get good reactions.” Flipping it over though is the saucier tune ‘Don’t Talk’. “The girl’s love this one. It’s about dudes who think they’re too hot and go on like they’re on ‘Sex & The City’. Homey, I don’t want to know your feelings. Just do your damn thing!”
By this point on this hot’n’humid road trip, Estelle is in her final ensemble and we’re onto the last leg of today’s tour – the legendary Jazz Café in Camden Town. Posters outside advertise her headline gig here next month but we’re here to commemorate the concert that originally put her name on the map. “I opened up for Rodney P here on May 19 2000. I remember it well,” she smiles wistfully. “I was really young and never used to talk but when I got on-stage another persona came over me that had been buried. I don’t know what it is, I don’t give it a name, but a whole new person appears when I’m on-stage. I still I get embarrassed afterwards though. After I finish a show I never want to hang around. In fact, I’m embarrassed right now.”
It’s no surprise. In the middle of the busy street, she’s the centre of attention as her team of stylists envelope her in a haze of hairspray and hoop earrings. She didn’t have an entourage back in 2000 but she did always have a sense of style. “Even when I was on stage with no money I’d make sure I as at least wearing all one colour and a new pair of trainers. People want to see you looking a bit professional. That’s been me since I was small, always image conscious.” These days she’s sponsored by Diesel and has plans for a clothing line with Nikita but the fashion empire will have to wait for now what with her upcoming a live tour and imminent new signings to Stellarents such as Baby Blue. “I want every day of my life to happen like it’s happening right now. I’m knackered and I need a holiday but I feel happy and it feels right,” she says as Touch’s photographer takes his final shots.
Until she does get that holiday, Torremolinos’ loss is mos’ definitely our gain.
44 Cedarne Road , SW6 aka The ‘1980’ house
“When I moved here I thought I was the Fresh Prince it was so nice. The old guy downstairs used to wash his hair with soap in the sink though. The whole house stank of old people. Over the road were the weird neighbours who set their house on fire because they wanted a bigger one. And the woman next door stole my dog. I don’t care what no one says, she thieved it. It was pure bred and she had some mixed up Doberman mongrel. Ours was worth bare money.”
Barclay Hall Christian Fellowship, Effie Road, SW6
“We used to go to church every day of the week, even to services that had nothing to do with kids because my mum wanted us to be super spiritual. But we’d go to the loo and hang outside for 20 minutes instead. In communion we’d try to sneak more bread and wine off the tray and then singing in the choir we’d do these dances but the pastor said it was too much jiggy jiggy. We hardly even moved!”
Deal Real, 3 Marlborough Court, W1
“I started working at Deal Real when I was 19. I walked in asking for a tune and came out with a Saturday job. My customer service was excellent. All the guys would come in and stare at me. The brave ones would come up to talk. I got loads of dates. Everyone who was big back then came through the doors too – I didn’t have tapes to give out back then because I was still in my bedroom learning but I made some good contacts.”
Jazz Café, 5 Parkway, NW1
“I used to come here and do the Lyrical Lounge every couple of weeks so the guys who ran it asked if I wanted to open for Rodney P. People had heard me around but I hadn’t had anything out so it was like, lets see what she’s worth. I was nervous as shit but it went well and after that Rodney P was always forwarding me. I was like, ‘Wow, the godfather told me I was good!’ After that loads of people wanted me to do a show and it hasn’t stopped since. I can’t complain.”
Words Helen Jennings