If, like me, you’ve been humming “American Boy” obsessively since the day it was released, you’ll understand my totes excitement at getting to hang with the awesomeness that is…Estelle! Check out my exclusive interview.

How would you describe Estelle in five words?
Different, eclectic, real, in-your-face, truthful

You’re now based in NYC, what’s your fave thing about the city?
It never sleeps, everything is always open at all times of the night… Which I think is cool because of what I do, I finish late but there’s always lots of places to go after a gig.

What about London?
Nothing could ever beat it, it’s London, it’s my home.

What do you miss most about the UK when you’re away?
The food for sure! I miss Ribena, steak and kidney pie, fish and chip, and blackcurrant juice, they don’t have it anywhere in America!

I was actually going to ask you about Ribena, I heard a rumour that you told Kanye West that it was a cool drink in the UK so he put it in the lyrics of his “American Boy” rap, is that true?
(laughs) Yep, that’s true! I love Ribena!

What was it like working w/ someone as awesome & cute as Kanye?
It’s great – Kanye’s got a great sense of humour, I know they’re always going on about how egotistical he is in the media, but he’s really not - he just seriously believes in his music, he’s a great guy!

What about John Legend? You recently interviewed each other for Myspace, what was it like being the journalist for a change?
It was so weird! But he was promoting his album at the same time as I was promoting mine so we just had fun with it - he’s a really great guy too.

At what age did you start making music?
Seriously, when I was 17 – but all my life on an amateur level!

Did you ever play any instruments?
No, but I’ve always been really good at remembering melodies, so I would just write my melodies in my head and then sing them back to people.

Who is your role model?
Mary J Blige! I love her! I met her, she’s lovely, it was amazing, she actually knew my name. It was so cool, especially because I never had vocal lessons & I used to listen to her CD and taught myself to sing from there. Basically she’s one of the main reasons why I do what I do, we bonded over that when we met, she feels the same way about Aretha Franklin!

What influences your sense of style?
All kinds of stuff, I’ve always loved Salt N’ Pepa, Grace Jones and Audrey Hepburn – I like things that are a little bit different and individual. I could definitely never be one of those long haired girls you see on the TV and that’s reflected best in my hair; right now I’ve got the sides shaved, before that I had a Mohawk, and before that a bowl cut - I get bored easily so I like to change it up!

What advice would you give to wannabe musicians?
Follow your heart, figure out where you wanna be – it’s a long road and it gets even longer when you don’t know what you’re doing, but most importantly, follow your heart.