ESTELLE IN VIBE MAGAZINE

VIBE magazine named Estelle as their "NEXT" artist on the verge in 2008.

The urban publication called Estelle's musical sound as -"Lauryn Hill before Rohan Marley".

Click here in to read Estelle's "VIBE" magazine article in a higher resolution.

The urban magazine interviewed Estelle's fellow Homeschool Records label mate, John Legend and here's what he had to say about discovering her:

You're also running your own label imprint, Homeschool Records. How did you find your new artist, British R&B singer Estelle?

Well, she found me in a way. Back in 2003, Kanye and myself were having lunch before we went to the studio. We were working on The College Dropout, as well as other projects at the time, and she happened to be at Roccos Chicken and Waffles in LA the same time we were there. She came up to Kanye 'cause she recognized him. She came out to the studio and played some of her stuff for us and we stayed in touch from then on.

At the time she had a deal with B2 Records and was about to release her first album. I actually did a couple of songs for her on that. She had a couple of hit singles and had some critical acclaim but it didn't sell that well. The label, I don't think, understood how to market her that well. And so when it came around for her working on the second album, I told her I wanted to sign her and see if I could help make something better happen.

I'm so proud of the album. We worked with some great people. I co-wrote a lot of it with her, and was very involved in the production, and the overall direction of the album. I'm excited to have been a part of it. [source]

Estelle's American debut record, "Shine" drops this Spring with the lead singles, "Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)" and "American Boy".

Speaking of new album, check out this clip taken at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Estelle briefly talked about what to expect from her upcoming record:

Photo: scanned by Feels Good 2 B Home via VIBE.COM/ video: JL.net