I will never say I am committed to somebody unless I'm serious about that person.
— Estelle
My mind is always going.
My songs are always about overcoming things, whether it's breaking up with a guy or just trying to be happy. They're always about being better.
I will test a guy to within an inch of his sanity because I've been through too much drama. He has to be 100%.
I have my family; I'm never alone.
A lot of my girlfriends are always telling me they're really strong independent women, but they've got their boy on the side, and they only go over when he calls.
I think every artist strives for a record that crosses all energy, lines, boundaries or languages or barriers.
I'm just excited that I get to put out the music I love versus music just for the sake of it.
Lesson one, introduce yourself to everyone when you walk into a room. Don't act like you're too bougie to say, 'Hello.'
I remember being, like, the age of 7 and just always being in control of something or someone, a baby somewhere. I had lots of cousins and brothers, and we were all taught that's how you are, you know. Things don't just run themselves; you have to make them run.
I grew up in a family of nine kids.
I hate that if you do one style of music or become really well known for that one song, that everything that comes after has to fit that mold.
Labrinth is a super talented singer, producer, songwriter from London.
I am a black British female artist, so I must be like Ms Dynamite, I must be like Shystie, I must be like Jamelia, but we're all different.
For four years, my mum allowed only church music in the house.
I try not to judge because I've been judged a heck of a lot, and it don't feel nice.
I'd really started hating music. I'd started hating all the songs, hating being in the industry, hating doing the shows. So I had to learn to love music again if I wanted to continue doing this.
The man for me has to have his own life or be as busy as me.
Most of my thinking is done at night.
The most personal track would have to be 'Love The Way We Used To.' It's one of the songs that I listen to outside of all the records that I wrote.
Kanye West is my older brother, an inspiring guy and someone who keeps pushing my level up further and further.
The Americans love me because I'm so completely unwilling to change my whole Britishness.
When I need things to happen, I need them to happen now, you know. I don't want to be having a meeting about a meeting about a meeting, which is what can happen in Britain.
I feel like it's not a bad average for every album I've got in the United States to be nominated for something off the album.
BMG has been an awesome partner throughout my career, and with New London, we plan to continue bridging the gap between soul, pop, London, and New York - uniting them through music.
I always thought that if record companies didn't understand me, fine - I'd go and do it by myself.
I just have a way about me where people know that they don't tell me what to do, they kind of just wait for me to do it.
My mom, for all intents and purposes, was a single parent.
Me being a black girl in London, whose mom is first-generation African and whose dad is West Indian, gives me a different view. I'm coming at soul from my own place.
Luke James has this mystique about him that's not something you can explain; you can only experience it. He's got a whole D'Angelo feel to him as well.
There is not enough faith in black music at a high level.
If I don't agree with something, I let people know, and it occasionally leads to tension. But I usually iron things out.
I can sit in my room and write a song that I think might be a hit. I can sort of make myself do that, and then I'll play it to a friend, and they'll say, 'Oh, that's nice.' But when something happens to me, and I sit down and write a song to get rid of my emotions, they'll turn around and say, 'Wow, that's great.'
If you think about where I'm from, I'm not supposed to be singing in the first place. I'm not supposed to be alive right now.
I can get a call at 2 A.M., and the person on the other end is like: 'Sorry, did I wake you?' and I'm like: 'No, I'm wide awake.'
People have created feuds between me and other artists.
I'm so, so full of joy that America elected Obama.
I believe in illusion - I don't believe in magic.
Nobody's going to tell me to rap in an American accent.
A lot of big whoever producers, they come with a song and they say, 'Sing this,' and I'm not that girl.
I wear what I feel and what makes me feel happy.
'Something Good' is a feel-good song. A reminder that you're dope and have something wonderful to offer life and yourself and the world.
Basically, if you go looking for trouble, it'll come find you.
The Grammy snuck up on me. I was on tour. It just hit me. I skipped down the street in Vienna. I kept saying, 'I won. I won.'
You can't please everybody. I give up. I'm not trying to. I don't care. Leave me alone with that.
I always say, 'There's a difference between cooked food and McDonald's.' Your mom's homemade dinner - you enjoy this more than you enjoy the fast food that comes along and goes, and I strive to make homemade dinner every time I put out an album.
This fame is a juggernaut: It slaps you in the face, and you don't know what you're doing. You don't know who has your back, who is your support system.
I love singing, so I want to see how far I can take it. I love the challenge, and I won't be happy until I have a wall full of gold discs and seven huge world tours under my belt.
I'm signed to a U.S. label, and I didn't enjoy the 3 A.M. phone calls. I'm not a great sleeper, so I didn't enjoy being woken up.
I couldn't just hand in any old rubbish - I can't go on tour and sing something for three years if I don't believe in it.
