Similar To The Letters Mixtape Release Party
On Friday night we hosted a release party for GLC X RTC's Similar To The Letters Mixtape @ The NV Penthouse. The night included dope DJ sets by Rock City, Million $ Mano, and Hollywood Holt, and a good time was had by all. If you don't believe us or weren't there to experience it yourself, Benny Rocs was on his A Game and has the pics to prove it. Check them out below, you might just see yourself...The mixtape drops for DL on Weds, and Imeem hooked up an exclusive first listen. Check it out below.
DJ RTC: "Swagger Like Chi" feat. Naledge, MarVo, Really Doe, Bump J, Mikkey Halsted, & GLC
"Swagger Like Us" hit the internet a few weeks ago and has become a monster smash. Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil' Wanye, and T.I. all delivered on the biggest posse cut in years, and the infectious beat has been tackled by emcees nationwide. Shortly after the track's release, I was able to get my hands on an instrumental, which I emailed to Mikkey Halsted, jokingly asking him to shout me out if he decided to go in on the beat. A few days later Really Doe came through the RH office and told us about his experience with the beat, and a futile attempt to land it for his American 2 Fresh debut. We pitched him the idea of jumping on the track with Mikkey and he was down. More importantly, the wheels were in motion. We quickly hit up Naledge, who was in town gearing up for Kidz In The Hall's tour with Murs, he was in as well and "Swagger Like Chi" finally had some legs. We enlisted GLC for the final slot, called Michael Kolar at SoundScape Studios and booked a recording session...
Fat Ray and Black Milk "The Set Up"
Like a wiley relief pitcher, Fat Ray and Black Milk make it a 1,2,3 inning on The Set Up, a lean 11 tracks of Detroit flavored Hip Hop. The LP show and proves on an aesthetic made famous by J Dilla, and extends the torch once carried by the likes of Jay Dee, and Slum Village and now being handled by Fat Ray, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson and co...Just as the best pitchers stick to their arsenal, Black Milk and Fat Ray successfully do their thing, however, a couple pitches outside the strike zone now and then would add variety and diversity to the record.
The Set Up maintains a minimalist philosophy where less is more, and more is definitely enough. The album's first joint, "Flawless" makes good use of a slapping beats, guitar grooves and pianos that match perfectly with Ray and Milk's lyrics. The tone and vibe reached on "Flawless" represents the best of the LP, something that is matched again on standouts such as "Bad Man" featuring Guilty Simpson and Scorpion, "Not U", and "When It Goes Down."
Darker joints like "Lookout" featuring Name Tag, which utilizes a Middle Eastern flute sample, "Get Down" and "Take Control" featuring AB add some variety to the album, but they too closely resemble each other, which turns the album almost into an "either-or" listening adventure. The tracks also house gritty rhymes rooted in the daily grind.
It is on "Take Control" that Fat Ray raps, "Might as well face the facts we spit the crack, even Jay-Z had to Fade To Black...Milk that is, till we filthy rich, better make room like 50's crib."
The Set Up is an almost filler-free album that is ready built for car rides and smoke sessions. Unlike the title of the first track, the full LP is not without it's drawbacks. Fat Ray and Black Milk carefully toe the line between musically and lyrically cohesive vs. being repetitive. It seems like Black Milk and Fat Ray have found their zone, where they have comfortably Set Up shop. It's a good zone to be in, but I believe that the listener as well as the artist could have benefited from more risks on this project. There's no doubt that Dilla heads will eat this up, but the album is perhaps too deeply rooted in that sound, making it easy for fans and critics to overlook Fat Ray and Black Milk's uniqueness.
These are definitely two artists with bright futures ahead of them, and hopefully this is The Setup of more to come.
Hits:
"When It Goes Down"
"Ugly"
"Get Focus"
"Flawless"
"Not U"
Misses:
"Lookout"
"Get Down"
Del The Funky Homosapien
I think that as music fans, it becomes easy to take our favorite artists for granted. We come to expect the creativity, and in some ways, fail to recognize the practice and long hours that are necessary for its production. We"re not fully able to realize that a 3 minute song may actually take 3 or more weeks to finish before it hits our ears. I also think it's often the most creative, most explorative, and most elaborate artists that get taken for granted the most.
Del is one such artist. It's hard to argue that he"s not amongst Hip Hop's most creative talents I mean, the dude can rap as three different characters without becoming corny or just a joke. He went from missing his brother and ragging on Mr. Dabalina to raging against the corporate rulers of Deltron Zero and rocking with the Gorillaz. Del's still doing it all, just as he promised when his Hieroglyphics crew told the world that they would be around from '93 Til Infinity.
Infinity is looking a long way off for Del right now. This week saw the release of his latest studio album, The Eleventh Hour. Del caught up with DJ Roosevelt Treasurechest to talk about the new album, his descent into music theory, and how it's all music all the time. Read on to see exactly what it takes for Del's creativity to hit your speakers.
Ruby Hornet: First I want to thank you for taking the time out to do this interview today, so thank you for that. I want to get into the new album, The Eleventh Hour, out now on Def Jux. What does it feel like with this album being your first solo in 7 years, and you produced the album in its entirety?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Honestly, ambivalent. I'm not really tripping. It's good that it's coming out, don't get me wrong, but I'm not overly excited about it. I'm already working on new music now. That's what I do all day everyday, so as far as I'm concerned it's the natural progression of it. It's supposed to be coming out. I'm not overly excited, but of course I'm happy that is it getting a chance to come out.
Ruby Hornet: Can you talk about the title, The Eleventh Hour, and why you decided to name it that?
Del The Funky Homosapien: At first I just thought it was a groovy name. I was like, damn! That's an ill name. I'm gonna have to keep that. As time progressed it started becoming more prophetic. It started really becoming the 11th hour. Hella stuff was happening in my life that was preventing me from putting the album out, or preventing me from being able to finish it until everyone else around me was like, it's the 11th hour. Ok, you're doing this woopty, woop, where is it at? At first it was just a really cool name, then it started to really fit.
Ruby Hornet: I was watching The Eleventh Hour DVD. I got it when it first came out, and I was watching it again in preparation for the interview. There's a scene where you're explaining how you got into production and it seemed it was motivated by your feelings that people could tell that rapping was not that hard to you anymore, and you felt like you had to earn your keep in a sense. Is that what motivated you to get into music theory and production, and if so, how do you feel an understanding of music theory has expanded your career?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Time will tell I guess how music theory has expanded my career so to speak. I'll say it like this man, basically it just makes everything easier. That's what music theory does, it just makes everything easier. Before, I had gotten to a certain level with songwriting and with the production that I basically reached a ceiling where I couldn't go no higher without knowing some more stuff. And I'm the type of person where self-improvement is a big thing for me. It just became that time where I was like, Ok. You're not going to last very much longer, Del, unless you pick up a book about it and actually figure out how you're supposed to do it.’ You understand what I'm saying? I had been winging it for a while, like a lot of us I guess. But I figured at this time in my career the people deserve more. I deserve more. I guess that's what initiated it though, the fact that I had reached a ceiling and I wanted to keep rising. But the music theory helps no matter what music I make. Being able to hear everything the way I need to hear it, knowing what will fit, just from a technical aspect, the tools that I have at my disposal. It just makes the music I'm trying to do easier, even Hip Hop. You may think Hip Hop's not really based on melody anyway, it's more based on rhythm, but even still, it works for that.
Ruby Hornet: I have a friend who said he's been in the studio with you before. He told me an interesting story that one time you were writing to a song and let the beat play for a little while, then you started drawing it and made a visual representation and then turned off the music and wrote to what you drew. Is that right? Do you do stuff like that?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I don't remember that, hahaha. Do you remember what song I was doing?
Ruby Hornet: I don't know the name of the exact song. I'm in Chicago, and he said it was for a song you did with the Molemen.
Del The Funky Homosapien: Damn I don't even remember, man. It must have been a while ago. My main thing that I do when I'm writing something, man, I just sit and I zone off the beat. I try to zone out and let the beat tell me what I need to be rapping about. My usual direction is talking s**t. I usually try to be a comedian with the s**t, I'm just talking s**t, getting s**t off my chest, real braggadocio. But I'll still have a certain type of vibe or direction that I'll take it in based on what the music is telling me to do. If the music is a little bit more laidback, I might be less aggressive. If the beat sounds kind of sneaky, I might try to sound sneaky or something. I just try to match what the beat does. Lyrically, now I try to follow the pattern of what the beat is doing. Whatever the dominant musical pattern is for the beat, I try to follow that somewhat. I don't try to go against it so much. I don't want it to be simpleton with the same exact flow for the whole song, no deviation, but I do try to set up some kind of structure.
Ruby Hornet: When you're writing for this solo album and the music you put out as Del The Funky Homosapien, is there a different mind state or any methods as opposed to when you were writing for the Gorillaz or Deltron 3030 projects? Do you really switch up your mind state, how are they similar or different to each other?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I basically got to get into a character, man. With Del it don't take nothing, cause I'm Del all day everyday. That's probably the favorite thing I like to do, the easiest thing for me to do. Deltron's a little bit more difficult because I got to get into character. I'm not always in that mind state or thinking about those type of things. In Gorillaz, same thing. I had to get into that mind state, and really they gave me little to work with. I had to just make some stuff up. I was asking them, what is this character about? The ghost that lives in Russel's head or whatever? They're like, whatever you come up with, man. I'm like, whatever I come up with? Ok dudes. Remember you said that, whatever I come up with.
Ruby Hornet: When you talk about the braggadocio stuff, and I was listening to the new album, you have a song "Bubble Pop" where you say, "why do you think you're all that when you ain't." It seems like in life at some point or another we all have our bubbles popped. Would you say that's the sooner the better for us?
Del The Funky Homosapien: The sooner the better? Probably. I mean, your parents probably should be popping your bubble real early, before you even leave the house. My mom and my pops were popping my bubble real early. Like, oh naw, you're really going too fast, dude. I was on one growing up, so my parents had to do a lot to try to keep me in line sometimes. So, yeah,, the sooner the better. Especially if you got a little money or something, then you can't tell nobody nothing.
Ruby Hornet: Also you have a track on the new album called "Last Hurrah" Can you talk a little bit about that track, and also kind of what you said in the beginning of the interview, that your fans may be like, oh wow the first Del solo in album in a longtime. To you it's like, this is what I do. I'm making music constantly. On the track "Last Hurrah" that seems to really come through, and it's you saying, I'm not stopping anytime soon. Is that correct? What's the message on that song?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Really the message on that song is just braggadocio with some free form, whatever is on the mind of Del at that moment. I just say it all on that track, as well as KU. My boy KU is rapping on it, he's featured on it. And he actually produced the track. We just did it like we used to do in the old school. He was around when I was doing stuff with Hieroglyphics too, I went to high school with him. We used to do like rap concerts, and little shows around the neighborhood and stuff like that, we used to hang out together, make music together. So we just took it back to that like we used to do. We just go back to back with the mic.
Ruby Hornet: You just talked about going all the way back to Hieroglyphics and such, this album is coming out on Def Jux. How has Def Jux influenced you? Have they made any impact on your style, your approach to music?...Why did you decide to put this out with them?
Del The Funk Homosapien: I'd say Def Jux has left a little impression on my style indirectly because I listen to their stuff. But that was before I signed with them. They didn't step in and say, you have to do this. The album was done when I gave it to them. I just needed an outlet to get it out now, so they allowed me to do that.
Ruby Hornet: Do you think they will allow you to reach more people? Because you've been out for a real long time, you have a couple different fan bases. Some fans know you from My Brother George Is Here, others have come along the way, and now Def Jux may be able to take you to another fan base. Is that part of the reason you went with them?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I went with them because I wanted to get the album out and I just trust El-P. I've known El-P for a long time, years. I trusted my project in his hands. I felt his company could do something with it. I like what he did for himself. When I met him he didn't have the Def Jux imprint yet, and then from there to now it's DEF JUX. Man, I'm really proud of El-P in a lot of ways. I liked his hustle so I said, OK, he could probably make my stuff work over here. It's working. I'm reaching more people. I got a video out, I'm talking to you right now. This whole campaign probably wouldn't be possible without Def Jux.
Ruby Hornet: You also talked earlier about the problems you've had putting the album out, and how it was really getting to the 11th Hour. Also, in the DVD you talked about some of the things you've been going through, you have that video of some girl trying to cut through your door and everything. But when I listen to the album it's got a really fun, up tempo sound. How does it have that type of sound with all the other things that were going on in your life?
Del The Funky Homosapien: Cause music is my escape from all that. Through all that I had my music to keep me where I needed to be. When it comes to my music, it was just like that. And honestly, I made a conscious decision not to make it hella dark or hella sad or nothing. I made music that I would want to perform. I made music that people would want to listen to. I felt if it was going to be too complainy or sad, people were not going to want to listen to it too much. I tried to make it more uplifting. That's my personality as well, though. It's not always good, but I'm always looking for things to be on the up. I'm always trying to make things better. No matter what happens, I'm trying to find a way to make it work, that's what this album is about.
Ruby Hornet: One thing that my dad always sad to me was positive things happen to positive thinkers. Like you just said you got to think things are on the up and up, do you think that has contributed to your longevity and the fact that you've been able to stay creative and making music?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I think my dedication to the music is one thing, cause I'm really dedicated to the music. That's all I do all day everyday. I got more albums here, sitting here now waiting. That's all I do everyday. Also I think my ability to talk to people in a cool way is a big part of why I'm around so long, and I try not to get a swell head over stuff. I try to keep my feet on the ground no matter how large people might think I am I try to keep everything in perspective. I think that's kept me around a lot longer than maybe my musical skill has.
Ruby Hornet: Before you go, can you shed any light on the other projects you have going on? I've been told and heard that a new Deltron album is also in the works, if not done. Is that true?
Del The Funky Homosapien: The album is half done. Automator and Koala already did the musical part, that part is done. I'm just writing bars for the lyrics. I've just been writing bars like it's the bible or something. It's like, Bar 200, Bar 250 I keep writing till I got enough bars to fill up the album. I got an EP that I did with A Plus and AG's production company. They did a whole a whole EP on me call L.E.B. It's a seven song EP. We're working on the Hiero album, that's pretty much done. We're trying to go in and do some more stuff before we just settle, but basically we got an album done. I got a bunch of various projects I've been working on, man. I don't want to reveal too much because I got to figure out a way to get them out. I got three or four other projects just sitting. I've been working on production too, I just did a song with Pslam One the other day.
Ruby Hornet: She's from Chicago as well.
Del The Funky Homosapien: Yeah. She moved out here so I've been linking up with Pslam, doing some stuff with her. We just did a song the other night that turned out real good.
Ruby Hornet: A lot of people move from Chicago move to the Bay, I think there's some common themes out there, or something, but people over here like it over there for sure.
Del The Funky Homosapien: It's slower out here, so I think that may be the appeal. It's less hustle and bustle. It's still gangster like everywhere else, you got gangster stuff going on, but I think in general it's a little more just laid back.
Ruby Hornet: I want to ask you, with all the music you're making and stuff going on, when do you find time to sleep or do anything else?
Del The Funky Homosapien: I don't do nothing else. I damn near make music all day, and write raps. Like literally from sun up to sun down. All my stuff is on my computer so I can be in the bed working on music till I pass out basically, and then when I wake up I just roll back over and get on the computer and start working on stuff again. Literally, that's all I do at this point cause I'm just trying to make my music so good. I want people to want to buy my stuff. People aren't going to buy it no more, so I'm trying to make my music good enough so you feel like you have to buy it.
Russell Simmons Supports Barack Obama
Russell Simmons has always been a catalyst for change. Along with Rick Rubin, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, and the Beastie Boys, Simmons changed the face of popular culture forever. He later birthed the concept of Hip Hop as a business, and has changed the faces of Forbes Magazine as well in the process. But perhaps Simmons' greatest accomplishments come in the form of his philanthropic organizations and his power to motivate others so that they may be their own catalysts for change.
Last week, Russell Simmons announced publicly that he was supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Simmons cited Obama's own power for change and ability to mobilize voters of all ages and ethnicities as deciding factors for his endorsement.
Ruby Hornet caught up with Simmons last week to talk about the endorsement, Obama's role in uniting peoples of multiple races, and education reform. Check it out.
Ruby Hornet: In your support of Barack Obama, you mention his great ability to mobilize and motivate young people in particular. When we last spoke, you talked in-depth about the power of positive thinking, and visualizing your success. Given Barack's speeches and philosophy, this endorsement seems natural. Why did you decide that now was the right time, and what role did the laws mentioned in "Do You" play in your decision?
Russell Simmons: I've seen something very spiritual come out of the Obama campaign, a transformative component. People who were not inspired are now inspired. That inspiration is what we'll need to promote real change. It's impossible to make a lot of the major change we need without the people's support. When the people take to the streets for change, the politicians who represent them are forced to make change. If not, the people are left to count on the politicians and the lobbyists to represent their interests. One of the major themes in "Do You" is getting in touch with the spirit in you to see in your heart what's true for you. Feeling that component in Obama's campaign and getting to know him better did that for me.
Ruby Hornet: Senator Clinton's main criticism of Barack Obama has been that he makes great speeches, yet lacks experience and may not be able to follow-through. With your endorsement you are in effect saying that you believe he can follow-through, what exactly has given you that confidence?
Russell Simmons: One great example is his ability to run this tremendous campaign. Out of nowhere, he has emerged as a leader and the highest polling candidate for the office of president of the United States. That was an inspiration to me and spoke volumes about his ability to get things done.
Ruby Hornet: In the last election, many artists and entertainers worked very hard to mobilize young people and specifically the Hip Hop generation. In your eyes, what has been learned by the mobilization efforts of 2004 (i.e. Vote or Die), and how can we take what happened in '04 and improve upon it?
Russell Simmons: We already are. We can see voters registered in 04 coming out in primaries.
Ruby Hornet: You say in your endorsement that Barack Obama will continue to transcend race in America and have a very profound impact on those issues. What do you see as that impact?
Russell Simmons: Obama has positioned himself as an American candidate, not a black candidate. He is sensitive to the issues of the poor and underserved in this country and I believe he will make that one of his priorities as president. And, by seeing himself as a president for all Americans, I believe he will be a great equalizer in working to make life better for all Americans.
Ruby Hornet: Lastly, for a couple years I was a teacher as part of Teach For America, a non-profit organization aimed at closing the achievement gap. During my time at TFA I taught in an area of Chicago known as Englewood. The school I taught at has very low-funds, the neighborhood is high in poverty and crime, and the students are far behind grade-level. What do you see as necessary to improve all of our country's schools, and how could Barack Obama spearhead a movement for Education reform?
Russell Simmons: When you don't fund education, you leave children behind. So funding is of paramount importance. There were a couple of things Obama said that inspired me. Art education. When you promote art and creativity in a child, it sparks their imagination. Kids need inspiration to go to work. My Transcendental Meditation practice has been very valuable to me in learning how to achieve focus. That same program, if put into these underperforming schools, would help young people focus and improve grades. Repeating mantras teaches kids to focus. The schools that have implemented this program create quiet time in school where the kids practice their meditation. Children that are diagnosed with ADD may be helped through this kind of program. Instead of giving them pills, we could teach them meditation. And not just for those kids, but all kids. If you go to the schools around the country currently utilizing this program, you would see a dramatic difference in the children and the results they achieve.
Estelle: 100% Me
A chance meeting with John Legend and Kanye West at Roscoe's Chicken in L.A. landed the British singer Estelle a roster spot on Legend's Homeschool imprint, which will release her sophomore album Shine with Atlantic Records this spring. It's a good look for Estelle, and a chance for her to reach a whole new audience. While her first album never made it across the pond, it gained her a reputation within the industry. Now Estelle is ready to see the world.
Here Estelle talks about her new album, her growth as an artist, and even sends some praise Ella Fitzgerald's way.
RubyHornet: How are you?
Estelle: I'm good, I'm good.
RubyHornet: How are the interviews going so far?
Estelle: They're going well.
RubyHornet: What's the question you've had to answer the most so far?
Estelle: How'd you meet John Legend?
RubyHornet: But that's an interesting one right?
Estelle: Not really anymore..yeah...well, I'm sure it is hahaha. I met him at Roscoe's Chicken with Kanye in LA.
RubyHornet: That's what I heard, that's what I heard. That goes into something I wanted to ask you about. How much do you think of what's happening to you right now is luck vs. your skill and talent?
Estelle: I just think it's all G-d. I don't sit here and put myself on any pedestals and think, 'well, it's cause you did this and you did that. ' Truly I didn't think about doing any of it. It's kind of what he says I should do, so I go with that whole movement. My whole thing is, you have to be motivated. If this is what you want to do in life, why would you sit down and say, 'No. I don't want to move. I don't want to go there. I don't want to do this'? My whole thing is about picking myself up and if there's something I want to do, doing it.
RubyHornet: I think that everyone who is successful in this business is because that's all they do. They go full out.
Estelle: Right, and they make it happen.
RubyHornet: You've also gone on tour with Wyclef and learned from a lot of really accomplished and successful artists. A lot of people bring up the big names, but I'm sure there's been other musicians and artists along the way that you've learned something from. Who are your influences and such?
Estelle: One person that really put me on and opened me up to the whole touring aspect of how you can live as an artist is an artist from the UK called Black Twang. He's one of the first people who put me on one of his records and put me on the road everywhere with him consistently. I only had one record out and we just traveled everywhere. We just went everywhere. It was crazy. We had fun. That was one person that had a heavy influence on my work ethic and me working right now. It's just about making it happen. Let's go, let's get this dough. That was him. But also, in terms musicians, I love Ella Fitzgerald. Her voice is flawless. And when I get to that flawless point, I might stop singing.
RubyHornet: Oh wow, really?
Estelle: Yeah! Hahah, I doubt it, but I like to say it. I probably won't. Maybe if I'm bored and s**t I'll stand in front of a mic with the mic like ten feet away. Like 'La La La can you hear me? ' Probably s**t like that, just like taking a piss on people, like, 'I can project this far.'
RubyHornet: If you got it flaunt it, right?
Estelle: Right. I'll be like Ella Fitzgerald. She was definitely one of the ones, one of the reasons.
RubyHornet: Speaking of that and development and growth, when you listen to your new album how does it compare to your earlier stuff? What has been the growth from album to album, or just in terms of project to project?
Estelle: The approach has been me being 100% happy with myself. I'm not apologizing anymore for being who the hell I am. I'm not caring, or being worried about what people think of me, just being me. I'm happy with that. That's been the growth, and that's been in every single song. I'm not scared to put it out there. I'm not nervous or shy that someone's going to be like, 'oh, well you've done this,' or be judgmental of me. My whole thing is, don't judge me unless you're perfect. And, lord knows none of us are. I'm just going to put my insecurities and my crazy out there and hope somebody learns from them. I hope I learn from them, s**t.
RubyHornet: So that's the message behind the title Shine? You're just gonna let yourself shine in a sense.
Estelle: It's going to be me. I'm not too bothered about what people think of me or what I'm doing, or who I am, or their opinion. I'm just going to be the best person I am. I'm going to be scared to have kids till I probably have'em. You know my background. You know how I grew up. You know I'm on my s**t sometimes. Sometimes I'm tired as hell and don't want to talk. But that's just me, and I'm just going to be the best person I can be and shine and be happy.
RubyHornet: I think that's a human element that everybody goes through, being OK to relax, being OK to be like 'no I don't feel like doing anything.'
Estelle: That's how I get sometimes. Even through those times I know I still got to do it. You may not feel like doing anything, and that's probably alright, cause it's your life and you figure out what the hell you want to do.
RubyHornet: With that and opening yourself up more, do you feel any added pressure? There's a much wider audience now, I know your last album was UK and Europe only, and this one is global. Are you nervous at all?
Estelle: No. I'm like, 'Please. Hurry. Let's go. I want to go and travel all over the world. So many people from all over the world hit me up on MySpace when they I heard I was signed [by Atlantic] and doing all this now. They were like, what are you doing? I loved your first album. I was like, really? You did? I can't wait to see people I've come across just traveling and doing shows and what not and say, I've never heard of you till now and now I love it. I can't wait for them to get this next album cause now it's going to be the one they can get without having to go on Amazon or really search it out. It's going to one that is actually released. I'm happy for those people. I'm happy to see how the s**t I'm talking about translates all over the world. I'm curious about that even.
RubyHornet: It's kind of an interesting place for an artist to be in, where you have a chance to really go and almost redefine yourself to a whole new audience even with your previous experience and success.
Estelle: Exactly. And it's not going to be too different from the original. It's just that there's no fear. No fear, no apologies, no nothing. It's just 100% me. It feels good. It feels so good. I don't have to apologize for wanting to rap and sing. I'm not having to apologize for wanting to be a regular human being. They've tried to build me into this big thing like 'yo, she reps the dark skinned girls'and 'she's righteous.' I am nowhere near righteous. When that started I was like, 'oh hell no. Take me out of that equation. Take me right out.' It's going to be fun to see how many other people fill that. I don't want to give the impression to be this unattainable thing. No. Especially with these musicians now, always trying to preach at you, like the world's coming to an end. Everyone's trying to tell you what it should be, why can't it just be your song? Why can't it just be some lyric that you thought of the other day that made sense to your life? That's my thing. Let it be what it is.
RubyHornet: Speaking of that, tell me this, do you really like American boys, or was that just a lyric?
Estelle: I do, I do. I'm having issues right now with one so I'm not 100% whole-heart right now, I'm having real issues with that right now. (exhales) I do like American boys, y'all are pretty cute, you're all right.
RubyHornet: I'm not sure of the whole American boy image outside of America.
Estelle: You guys are all right. Trust me! Go to London and talk. Go to London and interview a British girl, it won't be an issue. You'll come back with a wife and four kids.
RubyHornet: OK. I'm going to book a ticket in the near future.
Estelle: Haha...Get it.
RubyHornet:S o what else will people hear from you when they hear your full album? How does that song "American Boy" relate to the rest of the album.
Estelle: That song relates to the album in that the album has four or five different genres of music on it. That's one style of music, and it' got some reggae, it's got some Hip Hop, it's got some pop music, and it's got some R&B. It's got everything. So it relates to it in that it's a different style of music. It's definitely not a dance music album if that's what you're asking. It's not a dance music album. It has elements of different styles of music like I said, reggae, Hip Hop, some rock influence. We got some that when we perform it live it turns into a full out rock show.
RubyHornet: Where can people learn more about you? Are you going to be on any more tours?
Estelle: We're definitely touring. We're definitely getting on the road from April onwards. Check the myspace, that will let you know exactly where I am.