The album, Shine, which features production by Wyclef Jean, will.i.am and Mark Ronson will be released in February 2008. Kanye West, Gnarls Barkley and Cee-Lo are guests on the album.

In 2002 Estelle was declared “a UK talent to look out for” and Music Week cited her as the one UK rapper “most likely to challenge the mainstream”. Estelle broke into the charts with “1980″ and “Free” from her album, The 18^th Day, released October 2007. The number 18 being particularly significant for Estelle as it was the day she was born. On the 18th of January 1980 Estelle’s mother had a near death experience while giving birth, but fortunately came back to life. Since then Estelle has never taken her life for granted. It was on her 18th birthday that she decided to take to the mic and embark on a rapping career that has made her one of the hottest new artists in the UK.

It was Deal Real that encouraged her to get on the mic, and she was soon a fixture at London institutions the Lyrical Lounge, The Hop and Scratch. Her big break came when she stepped up to the stage at Subterania alongside Roots Manuva and Rodney P. Estelle’s performance surprised everyone. Among the admirers in the crowd were 1Xtra DJ Skitz, who immediately asked her to appear on his album “Countryman”. Skitz remains a firm fan:

“She is the Queen of British Hip Hop and one of the most prolific lyricists I know. She’s killed every live show I’ve done with her and people fall at her knees. Beautiful, funny and humble she is loved by everyone on the UK scene and if she doesn’t make it I feel worried for the rest of us.”

Estelle’s own tastes range from Kanye West, Nas, Jay Z, Redman and Rah Digga to Mos Def, Jill Scott, Common and Teddy Riley. But her main influences lie firmly with two of the most important female figures in Hip Hop soul - Missy Elliot and Mary J. Blige “I like female artists who show that women don’t have to strip off or compromise themselves to be recognized as musicians. I can match men head to toe.”

Born of a Senegalese mother and father from Grenada, Estelle grew up in West London in a large family of eight brothers and sisters and an extended family of cousins. Her mother was a huge reggae fan and her dad built home made speaker cabinets that shook the whole house. She spent her childhood listening to her parent’s reggae records and her aunt’s soul collection. Then she discovered Hip Hop. “I got into Hip Hop from my uncle who was always playing us Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane; he was a bad boy and my mum wasn’t really happy that I was hanging out with him”.

Little did she know that in a few years she would not only be hanging out but performing with the likes of Chuck D and Flava Flav, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Floetry and Terri Walker and touring with Justin Timberlake.

Within the process of producing her upcoming album, Shine, Wyclef Jean called Estelle the new Lauryn Hill. “Estelle reminds me of a young Lauryn Hill. She is the most incredible vocalist. The way that Estelle does harmonies–I’ve never seen nobody do it like that since the time of Lauryn Hill.”