Summary
Estelle discusses her journey from West London to global stardom, covering her early musical influences, breakthrough hit 'American Boy,' collaborations with John Legend and Kanye West, voice acting as Garnet in Steven Universe, and her current podcast The Estelle Show on Apple Music One. She emphasizes the importance of self-determination, reading, and maintaining authenticity in the music industry.
Insights
- Independent artist development through self-released mixtapes and DIY label infrastructure proved more effective than traditional label pitching, demonstrating the power of artist-led go-to-market strategies
- Record labels function as distribution and marketing machines, not creative partners—artists must develop their own creative vision and business acumen to succeed
- Cross-cultural and cross-genre collaboration opportunities emerge from authentic networking and clear personal branding rather than formal industry channels
- Voice acting and animation work can extend an artist's reach and legacy to younger audiences in ways traditional music releases cannot
- Mentorship and encouragement from peers (even brief interactions) significantly impact long-term career trajectory and artistic confidence
Trends
Artist-led independent releases and labels as viable alternative to traditional record deal structuresVoice acting and animation as strategic career diversification for musicians seeking intergenerational reachImportance of reading and business education for artists seeking control over their careers and creative outputCross-genre collaboration between R&B/soul artists and electronic/house producers creating commercially viable hybrid soundsAuthentic cultural representation and respect for musical lineage becoming competitive advantage in global music marketPodcast platforms (Apple Music One, Spotify) becoming primary distribution channels for music curation and artist commentaryManifestation and intentional networking as documented career strategy among successful artistsBritish Black female artists achieving global crossover success through distinctive vocal identity and cultural authenticity
Topics
Independent Artist Development and DIY Label InfrastructureRecord Label Economics and Artist-Label RelationshipsMusic Industry Business Education and Self-PublishingVoice Acting and Animation as Artist Career DiversificationCross-Genre Music Production and CollaborationCultural Authenticity in Entertainment and RepresentationArtist Mentorship and Peer Influence on Career DevelopmentUK Black Female Artists and Global Market CrossoverMusic Curation and Podcast-Based Artist PlatformsSongwriting Collaboration and Melodic CompositionPersonal Branding and Networking in Music IndustrySteven Universe and Animated Series Cultural ImpactR&B and Soul Music Evolution and InfluencesWomen in Music Production and SongwritingManifestation and Intentional Career Planning
Companies
Apple Music
Estelle hosts The Estelle Show on Apple Music One, a music curation podcast airing Saturdays and Sundays
Starbucks
Featured in pre-roll advertisement for Cloud Frappuccino beverage line
BetterHelp
Mid-roll sponsor offering online therapy and mental health support services with licensed therapists
Cartoon Network
Broadcast network for Steven Universe animated series where Estelle voiced character Garnet
Apple
Estelle used Apple Mac computers for early music production and currently works for Apple
People
Estelle Fanta Swaray
Guest discussing her career spanning music, voice acting, and podcast hosting across three decades
Shawn Stockman
Host of the podcast conducting interview with Estelle about her career and musical journey
John Legend
Collaborated with Estelle on multiple songs including 'Hey Girl' and signed her to his label
Kanye West
Introduced Estelle to John Legend and collaborated on music production during early career
will.i.am
Produced original beat for 'American Boy' that Estelle adapted for her breakthrough hit
Rebecca Sugar
Created Steven Universe and cast Estelle as voice of Garnet, inspired by her 'Freak' music video
Swizz Beatz
Produced tracks on Estelle's album 'Shine' and recognized her entrepreneurial sneaker line early
Missy Elliott
Cited by Estelle as major influence and one of her top five favorite singer-songwriters
Lauryn Hill
Identified as foundational influence and top-tier singer-songwriter in Estelle's musical development
Mary J. Blige
Estelle's favorite artist and major vocal influence; aspires to collaborate with her in future
David Guetta
Collaborated with Estelle on electronic music records including 'Freak' and 'One Love'
Robin Thicke
Collaborated with Estelle on multiple records; praised for respecting Black music lineage
Ella Fitzgerald
Estelle's ultimate artistic inspiration and vocal reference point for maintaining range and technique
Stevie Wonder
Major musical influence from Estelle's childhood; cited as timeless artist she continues to study
Boyz II Men
Major vocal influence during Estelle's teenage years; studied their harmonies and vocal techniques
Quotes
"Labels are not creatives. They don't know a hit if it hit them in a face. Their job is to monetize something that was already a hit."
Estelle•Mid-episode
"I had to go and make it a thing. I made my own demos. I released my own mixtapes. I went and I sold them myself."
Estelle•Career development section
"You represent me. To look like something. Period. Do something. Period."
Estelle (quoting her mother)•Family values discussion
"There's only 88 keys on a piano and a band. That's what you do with it. We are going to hit the same G chord at one point every time."
Shawn Stockman•Music composition discussion
"You're really good. You're really good. Don't ever doubt it. You're really good."
Estelle (advice to younger self)•Final advice segment
Full Transcript
Make your summer with Starbucks. Make it silky, make it creamy, make it ice cool, make it take the scenic route, make it sunset vibes all day, make it soft launch energy, make it smooth, make it strawberry matcha, caramel mocha or brown sugar, make it yours. Discover the new Starbucks Cloud Frappuccino blended beverage range today. Their delicious creamy cold firm will make your summer subject to availability while stocks last. Hi, I'm Estelle and finally, I am here with you and we are on Sean Stockman's On That Note. Welcome everybody to another episode of On That Note. My name is Sean Stockman. I'm your host and this is the place where we speak a language we all understand and that is music. Now, before we continue our conversation or start it rather, make sure you mosey on down to our Patreon community and subscribe. Okay, you get exclusive content, exclusive episodes, you get merch items, you get all of those things that we're working on as we speak all for you if you join the Patreon community. So make sure you do it today. Now, my guest is an 80s baby. She's an 80s baby from West London Town who graced us with her fly music with that sexy smoky English accent and vocals, you know, but her voice can be found not only on her own hit records, but in voiceover work as the amazing character and one of me and my daughter and my son's favorite animated shows. Steven Universe, she's an actor, a singer, a songwriter, a mobo Grammy, BMI, ASCAP award-winning, I'm Every Woman's Woman, who also has her own podcast and represents one of the first UK Black female artists to truly cross over globally. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for the beautiful Estelle Fantassoire, aka Stella, aka Stells, aka Estelle. Wow. Yes. That's why I named you. Oh my goodness. That's wild. What's happening, Stella? I'm wonderful. How are you? I'm good. Oh my goodness. This is an honor. I just, I just want to say that, like, thank you my whole life. Thank you. This is crazy. Thank you so much. I have an a time in our souls and they're having a time at home going like she's really sitting down. That's what's up. You got a big family too. I do is like nine. Well, nine of us hold six girls, three boys. Shout out to mom and dad. I mean, I give them a salute. All day, every day. Many nieces and nephews. It's a big family. That's beautiful though. Now you're from West London. So, and I just got into this sport, but I got to ask, are you a Chelsea fan? No. Okay. Absolutely not. And I'm betraying the sides. Okay. I'm betraying the ends. I used to live really close to Chelsea and like there was a period of time where they would do really wild stuff. Like the fans were, you know, a bit aggressive. I've heard about those football fans. Yeah. You know, like he was, I don't know the equivalent here, but it's like, I don't know the raiders fans. Wow. I can either, I can either confirm or deny. I have no clue. I just got here. But like they should be wild. They would do some violent stuff. And so my parents were like, we don't, we don't, we don't rock with Chelsea. We don't rock with like the football fan of it all. But as I got older, I kind of started to be more, I sang all my friends who supported football teams were from North London. Okay. So I was like, okay, I'm just going to support Arsenal Arsenal. Yeah. Arsenal is my game. Right. Like I'm not, I don't know. I'm not up on them today. So that's what I was about to say. Cause I was, I was going to apologize. Well, cause they just got beat by Manchester City. That's okay. It's one game. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it was a big game. It's okay. Cause it decided them being in the Champions League. We'll come back. You know, but anyway, we'll come back. Let's move on. Arsenal do better. Manchester City, but like, okay. You know what? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, I have a couple of friends that from London that are Manchester City fans in case you're wondering, I'm Manchester United. Okay. And this is where I started and that's the problem. Because no one would go to the games with me. Okay. So I was a fan of Manchester United when Rio Ferdinand used to play for them. And that was my whole, and it's my boy too. So I was kind of like, ah, and then when he left and it was like, no one want to go to the games. I see. I was like, oh, okay. I'm an Arsenal fan now. It seems very exciting in old Trafford now. It's kind of popping. Oh, I have to stick to them now. I dig it. I dig it. You know, you got to stick to your squad, but thank you so very much for being here. Long time coming. We've been trying to get this together. We've been talking what for a year? Oh my goodness. Yeah. Over maybe a couple. Well, first it was for your podcast, which is called the Estelle show on Apple Music. I'm so hyped. It's a saturday and sunday on Apple Music One and we play black music. We play R&B, soul, new and old. The basic premise of my show is we all came from somewhere. So I make sure to mix up the new music with music over the decades of artists that I love and that we often forget. Yeah. You know, the eighties up to 20 yesterday. It's a live podcast? No. It's sometimes it's live, but mostly pre-recorded and we do interviews. Yeah, you do guests. For the most part, we just play songs that you forgot about, you know, and songs from the new artists who are, to me, there's such a beautiful new crop of artists out right now. I'm like, we're missing the good ones for the mass, you know, for the people who are getting plugged left, right in the center and promoted. A platform like yours is definitely needed. So with that said, who do you like? Who do you listen to that's brand new and popping? Give us a couple of names that we can look out for. I just interviewed an artist called LeCann, who is a brilliant singer. It's almost like a tank and a music soul child had a baby that makes it in the tone of his voice and the style of singing. It's really good, but the music is just so it punches you through, it just punches through. Yeah. And then I love Alex Izzy's new record. I found a new artist on Instagram, Lee Renee Lee Renee Lee Renee has this song called feels. Okay, like what are we doing? Like just Don't do this. He's singing. No, no, no, no, no. Lee Renee is the bomb though. Yeah. I love. I believe I've just found them. And then there's another artist from London called Casey Clark. Who he has this boss on overstyle record. That's cheeky. I just like I like lyrics. Yeah. And I'm just having a ball discovering you, but then also being able to be like, Oh, this reminds me of, you know, and I see where the line is. Right. And so I play them so people can hear it and feel it. Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, well, that's really the the markings, I believe of good music. It's that you've heard it before. And it's just being renewed within a different spirit. Yeah, it's just it's just brought forward. That's all it is. Is it is it? I think the quote is there's only how many keys on a piano? 88 keys in a band. That's what you do with it. That's it. That's what you do. That's it. We are going to hit the same G chord at one point every time. You know, so but that's that's cool. So guys, make sure you support this style show. You know, it's a really cool I got a chance to look at a few episodes and a few of your interviews and everything. We do one. Say the name of it again just so they hear it. It's the Estelle show on Apple Music One and Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 2 p.m. Yeah, PST. Yeah, super, super dope. So yeah, make sure you guys support. Now, let's put the spotlight on you. You know, let's let's dig back into your history. I like to start the segment off always with a thing I like to call we're going to go back way back way back back in the time. Yeah. And we're going to start in the 80s. You're 80s, baby 1980 West London. So you were 10 at 1990. Yeah, that's when my album was about to drop. It's your birthday. January 18. You're a couple years old. I mean, couple months old. I'm July. You are. She's an Aquarius. Capricorn. Capricorn Aquarius moon. I'm riding the cusp. Got you. Round the cusp. Got you. Okay, cool. So you're 10 years old, 1990. You with your other eight siblings at the crib. Yeah, chilling. You know, y'all seem to be a very musical family from when I researched. What were you listening to? Who were your favorites? The New Jack swing had just come out. Yeah. And then there was this group, Good Boys to Man, right? Okay. This is like an album for the back to back to backs. Sure. I'm just going to put it on you right now. No, we were like, I've said my sisters, my family, they're going to have a hold, they're having a time right now because we literally, we were study, you know, we were study your like your group and everything. And it was just like, the harmonies, the way to sing, like, you know, and all throughout our teens, it was like, this is how you sing. This is how you do it. You know, we went to church too. So the harmony, the blending, the how you do it, it was all there. And we weren't crazy to want to do that for me. So it was you guys, it was like, oh, God, Teddy Riley stuff, like Redhead, Kingpin, like, real, you know, Aaron Hall, yeah, you know, all of that. It was a lot of that style of music. And then we got a little older and it was West Coast Rap. So we went to the Looney's, Chalk G and all that. And I was, for me, I was, I've been into hip hop, R&B, soul. And I like the one hits and stuff, you know, like, like, that's just a, not just a big career. I like shades, tell me, you know, like things like that. Like, tell me your name. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Stuff like that. Like, they're my joints. Like, that's what we, me and my sisters and cousins grew up like having our time too. Exactly. So those were gems. They were gems. And that's what I play on the show. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's okay. I definitely got to rock out because, because that's the music I grew up to. Like, you know, it was, it was in our era. And, you know, those are the artists that we were influenced by and music that we tried to emulate as well, especially when we were trying to make our record, which is crazy. Because I've seen there going, you are the baseline for so many hours. You know, and I know you may have heard this from people, but like, it's true. Like, we learned how to sing to you. Yeah. You know, there's no, my sister, it was obsessed with your voice. Oh, you know, I'm obsessed just across the whole thing. I tried to learn everybody's voice. Oh, I'll try, I'll try to do a sweet but he voice because I do somebody voice. But it was like, you know, like, we all learn everybody's parts. I can do it. I can do it. Yeah, I see. You got to see the smoky sexy boy. I'm telling you, it's fly. But I mean, I ain't gonna lie. Like, one of the things that bugged me out, like once the guys and I released our record and we started traveling and everything is our first time going to London and seeing folks with my complexion with an accent. Like, they used to bug us out. Like, yeah, like we, like, we never knew what was it like. Right, right. I'm telling you, like, you know, being in America sometimes can be a disadvantage because geographically we're so far away from everybody else. Right. So a lot of times the only things that we see as far as like what the other world, what the world is doing is TV. A lot of times it's just fictional shows and stuff like that that really don't represent the world. There wasn't anything. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm a kid from Philly. So when we flew out and we, you know, we're going to these places and first off, we're seeing all these black kids and we're like, what? There's blacks in London? Who are these people? Yeah, who are these people? And then they start talking and you got to accent. I was like, holy shit. Yes. Like this is fucking dope. Insane. We would tell people just talk. It's not like me out here now. When I go to New Orleans, I'm just like, Oh my God. Say words. Right. Right. Say words. Yeah. Just say things. He said hello to me. I'm going to say hello back. My friends are like, if you don't come on, but he said, hey, hey, I'm a person. Okay. All right. I'm trying to tell you. It's beautiful. It is beautiful. And I think that's my point is like our minds were open at that point. It's like, yo, this is a bigger world than we thought. You know, and there are people here that not only embrace our music, but live in their own culture and apply our music to their culture. So that's, that was the bug out for us to know that people from South London and South Philly are the same. We all won. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. May is mental health awareness month. There's a good reminder to check in with yourself. Not just when things have fallen apart, but when life starts to feel heavier than usual. Sometimes you're carrying stress, pressure, decisions, family stuff, work stuff. You don't even realize how much space is taken up in your mind until it starts keeping you up at night. And the truth is nobody has all the answers by themselves. Sometimes just having someone to talk to someone who can listen, understand and help you sort through what you're feeling can make a real difference. BetterHelp connects you with a fully licensed therapist and they do the initial matching work for you based on your needs and preferences. That match isn't right. You can switch to a different therapist at any time. BetterHelp has over 30,000 therapists and has served over 6 million people globally with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for live sessions based on over 1.7 million client reviews. You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash on that note. Again, you grew up in a musical family. I mean, you all love music. You and your sisters were in a group. Yeah. Right? Yeah. What was that like? It was, you know, it was my first experience in like managing people and understanding that we all have different paths. Like I will say that because we're all wildly different. Like, you know, everybody had their opinion on how the group should go. And I just realized early that my job was to learn all the things and call back everything. And so I literally did know all the harmonies and hey, you're off beat, you're off harmony. It's supposed to be this and then jump back to mine and fill in for that one. And that's what kind of was my training. Does that make sense? And then we were all in a choir. Okay. And then, you know, the kind of choir that where it was like we were just remix songs. Okay. You know, we're singing Brandi's best friend about Jesus. Okay. You know, like, you know, gospel cover group. You know, gospel cover. You know, I was doing that earlier. I was like, twatting, and I have to. He's always been. Now, where do you fall in in the sibling? I'm second oldest oldest second oldest daughter. Okay. All the syndromes. Yeah. All the thoughts about oldest doors are real. Got you. And what's the name? What was the name of the group? It was just us. Like it was just a suarez. Yeah, the suarez. Oh, we wasn't really and then we had different like girl group names that changed every week. So nothing stuck. Sure. You know, and then we were in it with my cousin as we got older. And then and she was the lead singer. And you know, for all the women and all the girls back then SWV was the thing. Yeah, you had to sound like SWV and she had that kind of voice. And I was closer to Taj, you know, in vocals. So yeah, shout out to Taj. Now I heard you held down the raps though. Yes, I did. And you developed a enact a freestyle. Lovey. I'm not good. I wasn't good at it. I was terrible. They think it back. It was terrible. Because you know, I was about to ask you just drop a quick freestyle. Not that one. None of them. True. None of them. My name is Peach's. No. But it did. I used to like learn all the raps. Everybody's raps and do them. So if we did like a Missy cover, I was you know, it was like me and Timberland. I used to do them. Okay. But then I started writing my own. And that's kind of how I my whole thing took a turn. Yeah. I think I used to work in a record shop and I used to write songs. And one of my friends, I was shouting out Fallacy, would come to the record shop on his lunch break, he was security someplace. Okay. And he was a rapper too. Okay. He was all rappers. Okay. 1819. Everybody raps. Everybody raps. Everybody raps at 1819. Just walk down the street, rap to each other. No, seriously, we did. It was crazy. He had my boss, he had my boss. No, it's raining. I'm going home. Um, but he came to the show, he will come to the shop, Derril that I worked at. And he would be like, you know, like, let me hear your bars and I'm a singer. I don't really rap. And he was like, no, I feel like you could do it. And I was like, well, you know, in my private thoughts, I can, he's a rapper and then come in tomorrow, like when you come in tomorrow. So I did and had my book and I did my raps. He was like, it's good. Keep going. I think it was trash. Anyhow, I kept going and I seen him the other day and I felt like I gave him the biggest hug in the world. Like he's, I know you shout me out. I was like, I have to. Of all the people who took credit and take credit, he's probably one of the only people who said to me, do it and sit and came back and was like, you're good. Like, don't not do this. That matters. It does. It really does matter. Okay. Well, good thing because even though you felt you were a singer and you wanted to sing, you almost went into modeling, right? Well, people kept telling me I should. And in my soul, I felt like I should, but were you not convinced? No, no, no, because also it was very tough. It was tough for black girls back then and a brown skinned black girl in, and in my head, it wasn't the fact that I was brown skinned. It was more just like black girls were models in the UK. But then even if I wanted to try, it was like, that's not, that's not your jurisdiction, you know? But I loved music. I love singing and rapping. It was like in my head, it was like a whole, oh, this is it. So doing modeling for different like skate brands and stuff down the line was okay. But it was always around music for me. It was never like, oh, I just want to do that purely. It was like, I'm aware I can wear your things. I feel like that took me on a few trips that I would never have gone to. I went to Iceland like three or four times before I hit 22. Yeah. To model skatewear and have my own sneaker and like. So you were doing the modeling. Yeah, but it was all around music. It's like a still the artist for ethnic studies, the study artist for blah, blah, blah, blah, study is for Adidas. Like and and people, people just appreciated me as an artist. The way I went about being an artist. Yeah, it was very much like from the ground up. Well, someone saw that in you as far as being a model too. I mean, I mean, I feel like I'm beautiful woman. I don't understand how, you know, like you couldn't see that. Like, it was just, it just wasn't my thing in my head to do. I really wanted to do music. Okay. In my head. I was like, I don't, I'm not, I'm not worried about pictures. That's a lot. Yeah. Yeah. And then my experience is doing it for some of the different brands. They never had anybody that could get my skin right. That was a real thing for me. Yeah, I dig that. Yeah. And that my parents raised us to be feel like everybody is good. Yeah. You know, you're beautiful how you are. Like, you don't even need makeup. Be straight. Yeah. And so going into the world of music and entertainment and modeling and blah, blah, blah, I was like, you people are crazy. You're not gonna give me a complex. This is not what I believe. I think there was a period in entertainment, especially in television. I know I saw it and I know my friends saw it and everything where you would see a black person on TV and you would instantly know, oh man, ain't no black barbers on set. The edges were very wrong. The edges were gone. The edges were not edgy. Like, you know, you see the brother with the whack ass lineup with the with the fro just wrong. You know what I'm saying? Like 33 degree angle. You know what I'm saying? Like just, you know, white boy did that. He don't understand black hair. Before the cloud puff. Before the cloud puff. You know what I'm saying? Like there was a few shows where I look back and be like, aw, they did, oh boy, dirty. It's insane. Or even with the sisters, like you could tell with the hair and all the whole thing like, you know, ain't no sister. Do her hair. And you had to, you had to be like, you had, it was almost the idea that you had to just be okay with it. And I was never okay. Yeah. You know, like, and I knew that wasn't going last very long. Not to mention it's not representative of who we are. We would never go outside looking like that. My mom would drag me right back in the house. Her enduring word, and I intend to pass this down to any of my relatives or any of my kids, is you walk outside the house and you represent me. To look like something. Period. Do something. Period. Yeah. And then funny, like again, you're from West London. I'm from Southwest Philly. And our mothers should have just been, it just could have been sisters. Yeah. Because they said the same exact thing. You represent me. What do you do? Yeah. You go out and you look like, you look like something. Yeah. Wrong with you. Yeah. Like a bum. What's wrong with you? Go back upstairs. Change the clothes. Change your clothes. Fix your hair. Fix your hair. Something on your face. Something. Go. That's crazy. Yeah. We are one. We are one. That's a universal language with us parents or our parents. And even now, even with my kids, I'm like, oh man, represent. Do something. Do something. Like, what is this plan? What are you doing? Put that on. Change that. But anyway, so the singing, you really was serious about pursuing it because you kind of auditioned for American Idol? No, no, never. Please don't never. No. I keep being called to do these things. And my spirit was always like, no, no, never. I feel like the idea of me doing it, and especially after a certain amount of time of being in the public eye, and especially in the UK, it takes so long to get on. Sure. I feel like people were probably like, oh, she's going to do that, or she's going to do some type of, I go out to be a big brother, I've been out to be in all these kinds of shows. Like it was crazy. And I was always like, no, no, I do music in a very specific way. These aren't for me. I love, I think it can spawn incredible eyes and there's somebody else's journey, not for me, especially what it was back then. Yeah. Like once you do that, right, your career is over. Your typecast. Yeah. Yeah. And that's all you could do. I was like, that's nothing to do with me. I have something to do over here. Well, we should have to foresight. Yeah. Because you know, you stuck to your guns. Now, who's the genius that actually discovered your voice and said, yes, let's, let's put her on wax. This is how this went. Because it wasn't any one person in particular. I had to go and make it, a thing. So I had my own mixtapes early. I had started my own label. And I began the whole thing. Linked up with one of my friends was a producer of Fusion and other guy called Bluefoot, DJ Bluefoot. And I was just like, I just want to do some demos. I just want to do some demos. And there were more rapping and singing. I was singing a hook, but I would rap. Okay. And it started with that. I used to read, I read books. I think everyone should read books. Read more books. Yes, read more books. Read more books, guys. Message. Message. And so there's a book called Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business. As soon as I found that book, we already, we actually read it though. And so I figured out that in order to do this, I needed my own label because they were not, every time I walked up to a label, they were like, we don't know. We don't know. You don't know the type. Yeah, the other. I have to show you that. Right. And I did. And that's literally how I got put on. I made my own demos. I released my own mixtapes. I went and I sold them myself. I took the example of a J and you know, puff at the time. And I was like, Rockefeller, I could do that. Right. You know, like they started off with, I didn't know the laws. I just knew they started off and they had their own infrastructure and they could do it. Why can't I? Yeah. They did inspire us all to say, we can do this on our own. Yeah. And I did. And that's how it literally happened. I went and I sold, and it was a lot of the time, 5000 CDs myself. Yeah. It's a lot of CDs. You sure? I feel good about it. Wonderful. That's about to say. That's awesome. And this was after going to a label and having a label tell me we don't get it. Ended up back at the same label with the same a and r. Like, where have you been? I said, I was here last week. Like I was here a week ago. And then I realized that everybody does substances. So right. That's one thing. That's for sure. But to I said this before, and I was saying it again, to every artist that's out here watching this podcast or listening to it, please note, labels are not creatives. They don't know a hit if it hit them in a face. And this is respectfully. They don't because that's not their job. Their job is to monetize something that was already a hit. Then they make the song bigger than what it is because they have the the wherewithal to make it a bigger. Yeah, give it a bigger outreach. That is literally their job. Do not ask labels for their creative opinion. They don't know particularly not now. They're literally this is there. And they talk about labels being a machine, this is a machine. Yes, distribution is promotion, it's marketing. And it's not even promotion and marketing. You have to do that. You have to do that yourself. Because again, they don't know. They don't have it. And this Taylor's Taylor's look oldest time. So after being signed, it was still up to me to like get out there. Anything that they sent me, I will go and overdo it. Yeah, because I knew that I'm reading his books. I'm looking at all of my favorite artists. You had to go out there and shake hands and kiss babies. And I did that. So during that period is when I met John Legend and Kanye. Okay. And I was promoting my first album. Okay. So yeah, how did you meet? First off, let's go back because we're gonna go back to how you linked up with John Legend and Kanye. But when did you finally take that trip across the pond? Well, my very first trip was when I was 18. I was recording my first album in my mom's garage. I still lived there at my family house. And I was recording it on my little Apple Mac. She's crazy because I work for Apple now. Yeah, okay. Full circle. Full circle. How about that? And I went... We get a discount. Let's work on that. Okay. I went with my friend Vanessa and we just took a trip on some 18 and young. Let's just go. Let's go to New York. And we went and as with me, everything turns into music or turns into a connect that I could never have imagined. I walk into moments where it's just like, how is this my life? You walk into a clock at the time, you know, go rest your soul. You walk into, you know, go to a party and everybody that you wanted to know was just there and they gravitate towards me. And I'm here like, holy, holy, you know, and this kept happening for a period of time. But also I wasn't shy and I was comfortable in who I was. You had that energy. I feel like the British aura was on me. But I was very clear like, this is who I am and this is what I'm here to do. So I wasn't scared to walk up and be like, hi, I'm a star. I'm a singer from London, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, because I also had records. And when their phone calls went back like, you know, this little girl. And when I, one of my trips, I went out and I met Swizzy, Swiz Beats and Grady, his partner's right hand. And Grady was like, I want you to come in because I've never met anybody with a sneaker line at your age with, with, how did you do this? We have to work with you in some capacity. And we were trying to figure out, but they were moving rough riders at the time. And you know, everything is perfect because Swiz ends up producing on my album, Shine. And you know, there was a level of respect. And not just always going to give you the song, sing the song. They wanted, they were like, what you want to do? Because we know, you know what you're doing. And we'd met before and they were like, you have a whole sneaker. How do you have a sneaker line? You're 23, 22. You look like you 12. Well, I've been working since I was 12. It's funny you should say 12. I've been working forever. And this is how, you know, and I was confident. And I think that was the difference. I was very clear about who I was and what I was here to do. And there was no, nobody bigger than me in my head in the world. You know, I was like, I'm here just like you. Can we work? Message. Okay. And, and books work. See, books work. Reading is fundamental information. Once you have it, it puts a different pep in your step of the stranger's spine a little bit, once you have information, right? You know, and I had it. Yeah. And I was honored to be in a room with them, but also I knew who I was. Yeah. You know, and I knew what I was there for. And I was there to do that and mind my business and go to a cafeteria or whatever. And go about my business and I kept the same energy, whoever I met. Yeah. It was never, oh, she's a weird over she's child. She's, you know, it was kind of, oh, no, she's pretty solid. No, I believe it's the, the it's the real application of game recognized game. They saw in you a very astute, intelligent woman, not a dummy knows what you're talking about as information, lace with intelligence and an aura. They're like, okay, I get, I get to know this girl. Yeah. And I was honored at the time for sure. But I also understood that this is it. Like who gets to be in a room just me, Swiss and Grady, and we're really talking about music and career. And they know the UK and they've been there too much like yourself. They've been back and forth and seen us and seen the industry and no struggles that we have. Yeah. So there was respect about how I'd even gone there. Yeah. You know, so and like I said years later, then we get to, we get to my album and I'm in studio with Swiss and he's like, you know, like there's a camaraderie and that's family to today. I love, I love him and you know, cool people. So how did the connection with Kanye come up? Let's start with there. So in my head, and I'll say this, because I'm a big believer in manifestation and writing things down and speaking it out loud, even if you don't write down, but believe, right? I had seen this. I heard John's voice on a mix tape and I had just believed that we had to work. It just, there was something and I didn't know at the time it's like all my shepherds will light up like, like everything like hit it, like just whenever I would hear his voice. And it just made me, I feel like it was like, it just made me think that's church. I know that. I know this. I know this. I know this. And he's doing it. Yeah. I don't know. I have to work. I have to find him. I have to work with him. Yeah. When we started working, when we met each other, I didn't even recognize it was him. Like we, so I go to Roscoe's and I meet Kanye. Everyone knows this story. Okay. He's in there eating. I'm listening to one of the mix tapes singing along in my headphones on the way down to Roscoe's walking, because I didn't realize he's supposed to drive in LA. And then I'm staying a block or two up from the Roscoe's on sunset and I walk in and he's there at the table and I'm like, I order my food, turn around, I go out and I literally pray, thank please God, please God, please God, please let him come out, please come out. If you're there and you're real, I need him to come out. Right now I need to ask him about working with John. And then he comes out and I say, thank you Jesus. And then I say to him, like, hey, I'm a big fan of you. You know some of my people's looks. Hey, John Legend. Tell me, where is he? Where is he? I really want to work with him. And he's listening to me like, you know him. I'm like, yeah, he's on your mix tape. And he's looking at me like, huh, I said, you know, my friends, you just did. I just done a record with this guy, mega from a crew called SoulSullied. And they had worked on some songs together and they had just come back. So it was fresh. Yeah. He invites me to the studio. I go, he's being Kanye, he's like, yeah, you know, it's, you know, and I'm like, this okay, where's John? I'm tired. Like, this is how COVID that I was. Right, right, right, right, right. Where's John? And so he's like, all right, hang on a second, wait in the studio. He's doing a whole session with another kid who'd won like Chicago Idol. Okay, I can't remember the kid's name. He was so sweet. Yeah. And he says to me, I'm sitting there talking to John because John has an Apple Mac. I'm like, Oh, I got the same one. And again, Apple. Okay. It's all really full circle. We need them for sponsorship. We shouted him out way too much. But he I'm geeking with him like, yo, how did you like, is this the newest version? I'm really, I'm nerd. Like, I want to be a better phrase. I'm having a whole time about this Apple Mac. And he's like, no, we're talking. He doesn't sound like he sings. Right. At the time, he sounds very quite quiet. He's very I don't really, I thought it was just guy in the studio. Yeah. And so Kanye's like, come on. And he comes outside. I go outside with him. And he's talking to me about what I want to do. And I'm like, so I really wanted to meet John. He's like, you've just met him. And I'm like, I did. Right. And then I go back inside. They're working on a harmony. I get excited and start telling the engineer where the harmony is and engineers turn the harmony down. So it's what I was saying. I said, I think he just turned it down. It's right. And it just becomes a whole like, let me shut my mouth. I mean, people such as telling them what to do. Right. Right. But then they're like, okay, so what'd you want to do? I came prepared. I had myself, it's already written and recorded for my first album. Yeah. I just signed to when I went back. And he was like, I like it. And let me live with it. And so I left them in the studio and he lived with it for maybe a week. Emails me because you know, it was Blackberries. Right. Dig it. Emails me. And he's like, I like it. Yeah, you said I could do it. And there's a song called Hey Girl. Yeah. He comes to London. He records it. And we were just ganged from then. But like on some, there was a risk again, it was respect. It was she's actually really good at this. And I don't actually need to tell her how to do what she does. So dope. Right. And so we every time you come over, he'd be like, you know, let's hang out, let's go studio. Let's, you know, and he suddenly she just took me and is like, what are his peoples? Yeah. And we would just work on songs. Yeah. And I was a student. Yeah. Because I believe you can learn from everybody. I don't believe even in my big age online and how long I've been, I'm always like, put me in the corner. I just want to see how people do stuff. Yeah. So can. Yeah. And so I would go in and watch and learn and watch and learn. And we worked on a bunch of songs. Yeah. But for him, for me, for other people, I was just sitting in the studio and watching, working for other people. Yeah. And when it came time to do a second album with the label, I was going to help me work on mine. Yeah. And he was like, for sure. We're back to label. They were like, who is John Legend? And I was like, as a label, as a record company, and as a group of people, let me go, let me go. Right. People are insane. Yeah. And I, I peeped the disrespect. Yeah. At that point, he taken me on the road with him. I had toured with him up and down Europe and the UK. And he requested me, like, I want her to come with me. We have a song together, but also I want her to come on the road with me all around Europe. That man was Gold Platinum just want to grab me and you're asking me, who is that? Who's John Legend? It was a disrespect. And I was like, nah, these are label people, though. I'm straight. These are people that are supposed to know who everybody is, especially when they have plaques. Especially when they're on the artist that you have let song album, like your artist just went on the road with them. It was a disrespect. I'm trying to tell you labels are not creatives. People are. Some people are not. And it's the people at the moments that are not. But short version, I went to them and said, let me go. Yeah. It was a bold move. It was a bold move. Yeah. I didn't want to be there. I was about to say it. It made no sense. And it serviced you well. It did. Cause I told John, and he was like, come on, come over here. I'll sign you. And I was like, you will? Wow. I was like, you sure? Yeah. He's like, yes, I know what you do. Yeah. I know you're good at it. Yeah. He was there firsthand. Absolutely. We'll get it done. And that's it. He saw your skills. Now, I was told that your breakout global hit American boy. Like it almost didn't happen. Is that true? Well, I don't know. This story is, it was always gonna happen to me. Okay. To you. To me. It was always gonna be. So yeah. Who didn't think it was gonna happen? Well, at the time of recording it, it was already recorded. The producer will I am had already recorded it for his own use. And he played us the beat. And I'm not sure what the crossover was or what it was, but he did something different with it, you know, the original beat. And we had to figure out how to be able to release our version of it. You know, so there were some tweaks done to the beat to make mine. But people were really stuck on like, he's already put it out. How can you just, I was like, it's a song, mine's a song, his is a vibe, you know, he put it on a different album, and it wasn't released in the US. And also he said we could use it. You know, there was no beef. Right. Yeah. So I still love it. It's not like I love it. I mean, but it was very it was, it was touching go for a second because of perception. Yeah. And I think people were like, how can you just yapp the beat and put it out before she puts out the, the, the, the, the, the yeah. As like, my, what's mine is mine. It's going to be with it's going to be that's a, that's a big song. Right. Like B or not. It's a big song. 100%. But the beat at baseline. Yeah. That. Yeah. Yeah. It just, it sits underneath your rib cage. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's what people love. And the world loved it because I remember hearing it for the first time on a radio and was just, it just sounded fresh. Yeah. It had, it was futuristic yet it was retro. Yeah. It had the, you understand? Yeah. Like it had the blend of both, which was very pleasant, very analog. Exactly. I was listening to a super D mix tape and to me it just sounded like house and garage from the UK. Is that baseline? And it was the, it was just the drive on it. Yeah. You know? And I said to them, I was like, man, look exactly what Will was doing with the B is exactly what it was. Yeah. To be fair, it was, it was, he had a good indicator on it. Yeah. In my head, I was like, I'm going to take this to IB for we're going to be good. Yeah. Like it felt like Miami hotel music. Yes. You know, like the beat by itself feels like what you're hearing. Very opulent. Yeah. Very opulent. Yes. I just want to, yes, it is. Yes. Very much. Exactly. Very martini with your pinky out. You understand? Yeah. Especially like me darling. No, it did have that energy. Now again, you basically touched on the fact that you did a lot of stuff yourself. But you also wrote a lot of songs for other people you wrote for John Legend, like for example, you did the slow dance song, right? Oh, well, I did that. I did a couple lines. I didn't write on that. I wrote on Show Me with him. I did like the line on two on Show Me. We were in the studio for Show Me. I was in there for a few of his records on the second album. Okay. Because at that point we were really in the groove of it all. But I think our chemistry came where it was the melody things. You know, he would always remark that my melodies were incredible. And my thing with him was the words. Yeah. You know, like I just, I wanted to learn how to write so fluently and fluently and sexily. Because that's the thing with him. It sounds good in your ears when you hear him sing some words. And he's an English major. So he's English diplomas. He's a very smart guy. Very smart guy. Yeah. And so like writing is his thing. But to me, that was my studying with him. And I think with me it was like, how did she come up with these melodies? And for me, it was I'm born in London, raised around pop, rock, reggae, jazz, soul, super eclectic, all of it, just all of it just on repeat at my mom's house at my granny's house on my auntie's house. Yeah, Luther Vandross, you know, Stephanie Mills, Stevie Wonder, Stevie's my auntie's favorite. And I love that I know Stevie right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody loves Stevie. If you have blood in your veins, it's never going to be old in my soul that this man exists in our lifetime. And I've been listening to him my whole life. Yeah. He's awesome. Yeah. So okay, so you wrote some, you know, some things for John. And but then you stretched out, right? Did you write something with David Getter? I did. Okay, so then you just went to the whole other side. So it wasn't even on the other side. It was like, it was, I've always done that. I had records, like house and deep trance records out, just by proxy of like, people in the UK being like, you're the hot new thing, come and do a record. I had a record with Faithless, called Why Go. Okay. I had records. This I can't remember the name of the original producer, but this is something called That's What Why I Can Used to Say. Okay. And it wasn't called Bustle Caffeine, Papa Caffeine is awesome. Papa Caffeine is awesome. The real Stelfas is awesome. Sounds like a smooth jazz diddy. It sounds real nice. Essentially, they have me write this, read this piece of, this piece of like literature. Yeah. And he just took my voice and placed it over this record. Oh, it was like reading for Garnet. It was crazy. It was just my voice saying these words. And I was like, when are you about to do with this? Super dope. And we wrote and it became a thing. So every so often I get some friends like, that's what Mike used to say. And I'm like, the fact that you know this, you're day one for the day one. This is crazy. Real talk. But that wasn't weird to me. I spent two years trying to pay the bills, MCing at like a house in deep trance, like uns club in the UK. Right. Well, night free free East on a Saturday night, just trying to keep the vibes up and pay some rent to my mom. So all of that was like learning and just, you know, at the time. So doing the records with David Gett, I like freak one love. I did those in our stints each. Okay. I was just like, and he was like, I left the room to go to the bathroom. How did you do that? Right? I was like, you left the room. Wow. Oh no. God bought him. Wow. I mean, you got to go when creativity hits you. And it hits you. That's it. You also did some stuff robbing thick, right? I did. So yeah, you you you got your hands different types of stuff. I've collaborated a lot. Yeah. And I always make a point to do with people I like. And I'm a fan of a lot of music and different styles. So it's an honor. Yeah. You know, I think Robin Thig has a very singular specific voice. Yep. And I think it's good that he stands where he stands in the court in music. Yeah. You know, he never one thing I like about him is he never discredits where the music came from. Right. You know, he's very much like he keeps it on. Yeah. And if he was ever the guy that was like, you know, I do this, it's me. It came from me. I'd be like, no, it ain't right. No, no. Yeah. But he's not that. Yeah. I mean, again, Robin, Robin is probably one of the blackest white guys you'll ever meet. You know what I mean? Because because his whole swag isn't your typical white guy. You know, it's like, you know, from his height to the way he talks and everything is very buttery smooth. And you know, the way he walks the whole nine yards, like he lives this is his lifestyle. And I think the thing that we all respect about him is that he knows and we all know where his upbringing came from. And he never disrespects it. That's best. And that to me is important. Yeah. With anybody I collaborate with, like, don't do weird stuff. Don't say things about black women. Now, strange. Yeah. Because hi, right. Black woman. Hello. So is your mom. Yeah, exactly. Hello. Hello. Hello. How about that? I have a very clear line on that. Well, any anybody that that is that clueless to even be surprised. Actually, I wouldn't. Yeah, no, you've been here. You wouldn't. Yeah, I wouldn't. But but it's still somewhat let's put this way. It's still kind of jaw dropping in a sense where I can't believe that you about to get this ass with it. Like you. That's amazing that you just walked into this level. How do you feel about it? How do you feel about that? That is so crazy. But yeah, you know, but people are weird. But okay, talking about collaborators. Who would you like to collaborate with in the future? Any particular artists that you look at and admire any old school, new school? You know, my ultimate penultimate if she was still here is Ella Fitzgerald. I would just be fine sitting in the back of the stage with her should have been just she wouldn't need us to sing. We would just stand there being like, right, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah. Thank you. That's all I got. That's all I got guys. I before with Ella, she's my guiding light. Like if I ever need to practice on my voice feels rusty or like I know I have some shows in a few in a few weeks and I'm practicing to Ella now to like reformat and reorganize where my voice is as a 46 year old because it dips in it. You know, you have to keep your range. Yes. Yes. And she's my one. Yeah. Like Ella Fitzgerald, if ever in life, alive, I'm gonna keep saying it until it happens. Mary J. Blyche. Okay. I just okay, Mary. Yes. We're putting in the universe. Yeah, marry, marry me. Mary. Yeah, Mary. Yeah. She's another one. When I was 12 and I was 15, I was I would put my headphones on and go and sing Mary. Yeah. And I found that all the records that I love her covers, you know, and you know, a knee or whoever she took a sample from or I found out about those records from her. Right. You know, like my auntie would play the soul, but there are some records that I'm like, oh, it was a cover. Oh, you know, what the sample came from. This is the sample. Right, right. Connecting the dots. Yeah. And so to me, she's my favorite. What's your favorite, Mary record? Oh, no, that's tough. Favorite Mary album. I'll give you that. Okay, which one? The Mary album and the share my world album because it's not gonna be one. It's fire. Right. So the Mary album to me was like, oh, it's the closest I'm gonna get to jazz and big band music from Mary, like a full out cinematic orchestra album from Mary. Yeah. So that and then I liked the cover. She had a pure self on there. It was her skin. It was her. Yeah. Yeah. You can see the scar. The scar on her face. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. That was hard. And then the song with Lauren Hill. Yeah. Oh my goodness. It's a share my world. What? Oh, make me down every time I hear that song. I'm like, it's the most. It's a bad record. Oh my goodness. You feel like it's a bad joint. She sat and she sang from the back of her soul with that record. And I tried to emulate it. Yeah. And I was like, it's not gonna be it's just I'm just gonna have to sing the harmonies. So let's go, Mary. Yeah. I don't know if you watched the podcast or not, but I hope you do this time with some of your friends. I would be honored. Yeah. That's all I would say. I think I would make some fire records. I think we would. You had enough Mary J. Bly's references with Brian Michael Cox and Eve Ballinger. We talked about Mary. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mary is amazing. Now. All right. Let's get to what I'm sure my daughter's going to watch the podcast for Steven Universe. Garnet. Yeah. How was that? First off, how did you land that gig? I kept putting it in the air. I want to do a cartoon. I want to do a cartoon. And my team was like, why do you want to do a cartoon? Go record some music. I was like, I want to do a cartoon because I don't live with my family. Yeah. And my nieces and nephews are being born and I want them to know my voice. Wow. It was purely selfish. It was a real statement. I don't know where it came from, but it was a real statement. And then my acting agent at the time, she kept going out. Yeah. Animation. And they weren't good. I was like, I can't make that voice. This is what she like. What do you, huh? Right. And I kept being like, I'm going to do a cartoon or a voiceover or something though. I know it. I know it is I get these feelings same way I felt like when I heard John's voice and same way I felt like the way I was about doing my own label to make sure that I get very convicted about some things and that was one of them. And then she gets a phone call or she gets an email about this cartoon, this animation. She's like, it's not a lot of money. I was like, what is it? I don't care. What is the cartoon? And she's like, well, it's about this character. She's a purple garnet. And they want you to go and audition for garnet and amethyst. I was like, what are these crystals? Right. Absolutely. How about that? Because I was getting into it. Right. That's like, it's purple. Purple is my favorite color. There you go. I was hugely led by all my vibes. Okay. Crystals in my head. Your vibes tend to work out. They, I just tell the people. Yeah. Stick with me. Vibes work. Vibes do work. They do. Yes. So channeling. Exactly. And she came and so I got the audition and I auditioned for the role, but it wasn't really an audition because Rebecca was like, so the character and she speaks like this. So the character garnet, I really, I really, I love your song freak. And I saw the video and she, she drew it based around freak. Oh, wow. The video. And now I dreamt up the video for freak. And that was a whole thing. We'll come into figuring after American boy came out, the next album was coming. And it's a song I wrote with David Gale. Yeah. Maybe we'll like, what are we going to do? Like you do the videos. What are we going to do? And I was like, well, give me a second. Right. And I literally went to sleep, woke up from a dream and I dreamt these are the school mom teaching these kids how to be sexually free or teaching these young girls how to like have faith in themselves essentially. Yeah. And I was like, this is, we're going to teach these young girls how to stand up for themselves as women and not be, let their freak flag fly if they got to like, but don't be embarrassed about being your good self. Right. And I drew this picture and I was on zoom or wherever it was with the director and bill and the bill was like, got it, got it. And so he was like, now we're going to put in our space. I was like, oh, even better, let's go crazy. Right. Right. So we do the video for freak freak comes out and she tells me that she was a fan of a song and she saw the character. And so the hips, the hair and all of that stuff is all based around the characters, the person I'm being. Wow, I didn't know that. Yeah. And so that happened. It just came like that when I went into record with them, it was very much like, just do your voice. Like this. Yes, just do your voice. Yeah. And like calm, just be your calm, relaxed. I was like, can I be sarcastic? They were like, it's sarcastic as you want. Wow. I have English humor. Yeah. Right. I really have British humor. It's a little dry, it's a little dark. Yes. It's a little deadpan. Yes. And that's appreciated though. British humor is good. It's a good time. Yeah, it's a good time. Now it's crazy because Steven Universe, you would think that, okay, it's a cartoon, it's for kids, animated, but it has a lot of deep themes. Rebecca didn't come to play. I don't know where Rebecca came from, but she's from DC, she's from Maryland. Yeah. But Baltimore, hold on. Okay, Baltimore. She's from Baltimore, but like she did not come to play with Steven Universe. And I say that because I would not read the script before I went into my sessions. And not because I was being lazy, because I like to be surprised when I walk in and give an honest performance. Yeah. So I would walk in and there was a few times when we had some episodes, where I was in tears trying to get through it because what was happening in my life, and we didn't speak outside of like that. I wouldn't tell her like, Hey girl, this is going on. Right. She would just, here's the script this week. And I would literally have gone through it the week before. Or I'd be like, what is love? Like, you know, like those kinds of things. Like, I'd be in there like, read it like on it. Don't be, don't be a wuss of stuff. Like trying to choke back, thinking to myself, why does she know? How does she, where does she get this? So this, this part of me with Steven Universe, that was divine, that was all God, that was nothing to do with me. There was the urge I had. And I was supposed to play that role. And I was happy that I could be part of it, be an ally, be a supporter and play such an incredible character. Because that character has given so many people voice, life, energy, something to stand with in a world that keeps telling them, nah, you shouldn't exist. You shouldn't, don't do that. This, the show is all about empowerment and believing in yourself and really just going deep inside, like the crystals where they are, are inside you. And that's the whole underlying theme. So to bring that out and to show everyone your power and to fight all your enemies and your demons and all those other, like it's heavy. Like, you know, watching it as an adult, you know, my kid is just singing the songs and all that stuff. But I'm looking at it like, exactly, exactly. Yeah, right. Daddy was wrong. It's gonna be okay. It's inside. It's inside. Imagine me reading that whole song for the first time. Like, what is this? Oh my God. Okay. No, no, no, it really, it really was like, you know, just one of those cartoons that even adults could benefit from because it's just, just a really deep themed thing. And not to mention, because I'm into crystals too. So just knowing what the garnets, what it means, you know, the elements are an amethyst and, you know, pink quartz and all that, like, you know, you know, all these things are like, okay, they're really hitting some heavy points. They did some real things. And it introduced, well, not just the crystals, but it just gave, it just gave, it just opened out the lens for people. Like, it's not just this. Like, this world is, I can't even put my hands to it. You know, like, this world is here and it's ours. And there's so much to study with it. I've been, we've been at Comic-Cons. And it's, well, the first time I realized that this was something different, my friend was in Detroit. My friend was in Detroit was, as an artist. And she was like, we just had an art session and we had a lock in. And she said, and we're here watching Steven Universe and it's 25 years and here balling. Yeah. No, it's real. Yeah. And I was like, yeah, this is something different. And that was like, maybe the first two seasons. Yeah. So by the time we finished with the eight seasons and the movie and, you know, like, I was like, the amount of people that have come up to me and said, like, yo, Garnet and, and all the different characters in the way that they melded. And then it's just, again, it's the writing. It's the words. It gives people language that they never knew they needed. And they didn't know what's possible. Even the animation itself is beautiful. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. It really, really is. I'm on it. That's like one of the greatest on this in my life. No, it was, it was absolutely beautiful. Now, you are a songwriter, you're a singer. So you understand both sides. I'm gonna make it hard for you. Oh, no. Give me a top five favorite singers songwriting females. Oh boy, did I specify that? Singer songwriting females. I made it difficult. Yeah, very narrow. Five of them? Yeah, give me five. After. Right, right, right. After it? Yeah, right, exactly. I have red head. That was born in the specifics. Oh, goodness. Give me some. Oh, you know what? I'll point it. Just singer songwriting. Singer songwriting is, I can do women. Okay. I can do Missy Elliott. Cool. This is no, we're not gonna put no numbers on that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's not. Okay. Yeah, it's just Missy Elliott, Lauren Hill. Come on. Okay. Those are my bed rocks. A couple of my bed rocks. Singer songwriting is, let me get newer. Who is this tough? Because again, it's lyrics. All right. You know, who's new to me and I think, well, newer artist. Alex Isley. Alex. Good. Love Island. Really good. That's three. Okay. Oh, this is scary. All right. All right. Evelyn. No, wait, hold on. No, no, no, hold. Patrice Russian. Patrice Russian. Okay. Give that lady all her property. Anybody from the UK? Yeah, yeah, I'm coming to it. I have to. I'm coming to it. I have to. Let's be disrespectful if I didn't. Yeah. Okay. And this is a deep cup. She doesn't get her props. Okay. And I want people to go and do research on her. Okay. Misha Paris. Who's that? Misha Paris. Misha Paris. I think I've heard that name before. Yeah. You're saying Misha or Misha? Misha. Misha. Yes. Okay. Yes. Let's say 90s joint. Yeah. She was a black, she is a black woman that existed so that I could even try. Yeah. To be me in all of me. Okay. I was I was fully 10. She was one of the ones I was listening to. And she's still here. Yeah. Brilliant. Yeah. Okay. One more. Oh, no, this is tough. Give me one more. All right. I'm thinking one, but I'm not gonna let I'm not. I have one that a lot of people tend to sleep on because of this one song she did. She wrote a few, but there's one song that she did that like literally when I heard the story, it was like crazy. But I'll tell you, get your five off. Say the Garrett. Yeah. Say the Garrett. Yeah. Howl at your boy, by the way, because reached out for you to be on the podcast. So make sure that you please come on the show. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna use practice, the stealth ability to conjure and manifest things. So we're gonna make that happen. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's solid. That's solid. I was thinking, I was thinking one. Okay. Sing a song right? Yeah. Babyface. No, no, girls. Oh, girls. Roberta Flack. See, this one because this we can't tell me five. Yeah, Roberta Flack, Carol King. Her two. Anita Baker. Yeah. But it's coming. It's coming. Anita Baker, Carol King. Wait, wait, wait. Ashford and Simpson. Yeah, that was me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Valerie Simpson. Valerie Simpson. Yep. Just four. Mine will be an, godly, my old age. The young lady who sings and so does so. Karen Wheeler. When I, when I heard the actual story behind Back to Life, you know what the story is? Yeah. She came back to life. She came back to life. It was real. It was quite specific. And when she died, right, she said she saw the most beautiful images she ever saw in her life. She thought that she was about to transition into heaven. And God brought her back. He said, nope. And it depressed her. So when you hear the line, back to life, back to reality. She was upset. She was sad because she was like, I wanted to go there. Is that why it's like an outtumble record? Well, a lot of people think that it's a happy go lucky record where she's actually sad. Like it's a sad song about her asking God, however do you want me, however do you need me? Like she's asking like, what do you want from me? Basically, like you took me to this place and you took me back. Like what, what are you doing? I heard people say that stories like that. People like semi-transition and came back and they all say it's a beautiful place. I'm excited to get there. Yeah. Yeah. She said she saw the most beautiful place she's ever seen. And God said, nope. So God is basically saying, so Karen was basically said, okay, really, what do you want? How ever do you want? Right. I can't be afraid. So that's a deeper song than what people think outside of it. It'll be in a dance joint. So anyway, see, this is why we need the stories. This is why we need these stories because I always want to know the inspiration. Like that's insane. Yeah. When you think about, we all caught it. I was, I was a kid like watching her in the green jacket and swimming in her hair. Right. And she's doing this and having a whale of a time. And I'm thinking, and now we're knowing that she was depressed and wanted to get. She wanted to get out of here. She was done with life. She was good. Yeah, right. No, I don't. I don't. In 2026. Yeah. Now mind you, it was a jam. And we all danced to it, but she was sad. Imagine. A version to it too. Yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah. It's beautiful. And she has one of the most beautiful voices ever, even now to this day. Okay. I met her in Joe's pub early in New York. Yeah. And I just kind of bowed to her. Yeah. She is a queen. Yeah, she is that. She is a queen. She deserves that. 100% amongst her plebs. Yeah. We get to be here around her. Exactly. Yeah. Love you, Karen. Last question. What is your favorite restaurant, darling? Oh my goodness. Come on. My favorite restaurant is my house. I cook. Okay. No, I really cook and I cook for fun and I cook for my personal pleasure. You are foodie. Yeah, a little bit. Okay. So you're at home. You're enjoying your roast duck and your mac and cheese and having a nice libation of some sort. And somehow in walks into your home, a younger version of Stella. Little girl. Yeah. She's been looking for you. She needs jewels of wisdom on what to expect for her life and her future. And only you can tell her because you both are living it. So she sits down. She takes a plate of the roast duck. Well, she already knows she's going to be a good cook. Yeah. So that's a good thing. That's going to be great. So what else is older, Stella, going to tell younger Stella? Okay. She's going to say two or three things. The first thing she's going to say to her is wear the belly tops. You don't have a belly. Chill out. You are this skinny. Wear the belly tops. Wear them all. Put them all on and wiggle your belly. Let's go. In the world. Let's go. Wear the belly tops. You good. That's what she's going to say to her. Are that guy at 23, 24? Leave him immediately. Immediately. Immediately. Immediately. Right. Don't don't. When he comes back at 25 and tries to tell you that you did something wrong and leave it hanging in the air and never tell you what that thing is. Time to get the F out your house. Smoothly. Yeah. Like cuss him out. That's really good advice. Cuss him out. Don't you dare. Cuss him out. Yes. Help him with himself out your house. Yes, go. No. Yeah. And the third thing I would tell her is you're really good. You're really good. Don't ever doubt it. You're really good. Absolutely. You're really good. Yeah. And that would be it. We can vouch for that. We can vouch for that. On that note, please give it up guys for Stella, aka Estelle. Let's go. Thank you. Hey y'all. And that was on that note. Hope you guys enjoyed it. And if you did, here's a couple more videos for you to check out. Do not forget to like, comment and subscribe.