Estelle Swaray: Making Waves with Eclectic Mix of Various Musical Genres and Dance

Estelle Swaray is a British singer, songwriter, rapper record producer, and actress known for her eclectic mix of various musical genres including R&B, soul, reggae, grime, hip hop and dance.
Born 18 January 1980, the second of eight children born to a Senegalese mother and Grenadian father, she was raised in West London and grew up listening to gospel, as secular music was not allowed in her parents’ house.
Estelle Swaray got her start in London’s renowned hip-hop record store Deal Real. Her fellow employees encouraged her to take a chance and get on the mike on-stage; soon she was playing numerous London clubs and appearing with the likes of Manuva and Rodney P.
Local hero Skitz asked her to appear on his 2000 album, Countryman, and soon she landed on albums by the likes of the 57th Dynasty and Blak Twang. She made her solo debut in 2003 with the Excuse Me 12″ on the Paradise Isle label.
Estelle breakthrough track came in 2004 with “1980” released by the V2 label and reached number 14 on the U.K. pop chart and won her a grammy. A street-level mixtape series called Da Heat and further 12″s like “Free” and “Go Gone” helped build a loyal following, and Estelle gave back to the U.K. hip-hop scene by forming her own Stellarents label to sign new artists. In October 2004, V2 released her debut album, The 18th Day.
Three years later, U.S. R&B singer John Legend announced that Estelle would be the first signee to his Homeschool label, supported by Atlantic in the U.S. Her sophomore album, Shine, was released in April 2008 and peaked at number six in the U.K., while its biggest single, “American Boy,” topped the U.K. chart and, in the U.S., reached the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100. The song won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
In February 2012, following the Top 30 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop single “Break My Heart” (featuring Rick Ross), Estelle released album number three, All of Me. Commercially, it didn’t fare nearly as well as her first two.
Separated from Atlantic, she established a boutique label through BMG Rights Management and released True Romance in February 2015.
Estelle has released several critically acclaimed records and received a Grammy Award among other accolades. She is known for her collaborations with artists including John Legend, Robin Thicke, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, will.i.am, Kanye West and De La Soul. Since 2013, she voices the fictional character Garnet in the animated TV series Steven Universe, in which she provides the vocals for her character in numerous songs.