b. Fanta Estelle Swaray, 18 January 1980, London, England. One of the new generation of UK urban artists to emerge in the early years of the twenty-first century, Estelle established herself as a leading underground performer before launching her mainstream career in summer 2004 with the hit single ‘1980’.
Swaray grew up in south west London and was introduced to music at an early age by her reggae loving parents, while she later discovered hip-hop courtesy of one of her uncles. She began singing at the age of seven but did not begin performing in public until after her 18th birthday. By this time Swaray was working at the hip-hop record store Real Deal in Soho, and with the encouragement of her employers she began appearing at London clubs such as the Lyrical Lounge, The Hop, Scratch, and Subterania. With a strong R&B voice to go with her rhyming qualities, she made her recording debut in 2001 on DJ Skitz’s Countryman album, while further appearances on albums by 57th Dynasty, Social Misfits and Against The Grain helped establish her credentials as one of the most exciting artists on the burgeoning UK scene. Her guest vocal on Blak Twang’s 2002 single ‘Trixsta’, meanwhile, landed Estelle a nomination at the yearly MOBO awards.
The artist launched her own Stellar Ents label with a series of white label releases, including ‘Excuse Me’ and the Da Heat mix tape sessions, before signing a major label contract with Jdid/V2 Records at the end of 2003. The autobiographical ‘1980’, which covered the singer’s life story in four minutes starting with the moment her mother briefly died during the birth process, reached the UK Top 20 in July 2004. Estelle’s debut album The 18th Day, released later in the year, was a highly impressive fusion of hip-hop and soul that firmly established the artist as a genuine star of the UK urban scene.
The artist’s increased profile led to interest from overseas, and she joined Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall’s Black Jays label before securing a contract with US R&B singer John Legend’s Homeschool Records. Her second album was completed with help from renowned producers including Legend, Mark Ronson, Will.I.Am and Wyclef Jean. The first single ‘Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)’ failed to trouble the charts, but the follow-up ‘American Boy’ (featuring Kanye West) debuted at the top of the UK singles chart in March 2008.
