Spreading love and happiness, and repping the UK, MOBO Award winner Estelle heats things up into an urban meltdown at Chocolate Nights. Here’s what she has had to say for herself…

“I don’t want to sell in the short term, I want people listening to my music for the rest of their lives.”

“My mum had a lot of reggae in the house, but my real vocal influence is Ella Fitzgerald. I remember being 13 years old and she was what I imagined my guardian angel’s voice would sound like.”

“All my relations lived virtually next door to us so we’d all muck in together. I spent loads of time with my aunts and uncles and my granny. She was from Sierra Leone and she spoke French, and she had these records of African music. I loved to listen to them.”

“I’ve stopped chasing American Boy. I’m not chasing anything. It was what it was. For me, I just put out what I love. And there’s a lot more to come.”

“I don’t like to write anything that isn’t true, anything that’s not relatable, anything I don’t 100 per cent like or I 100 per cent don’t stand by.”

“I’m just trying to be me. I figured a long time ago it’s not good for me to pretend or to try and fit into anyone else’s ideals of what I should do. It doesn’t work for me”.

“I’m just excited that I get to put out the music I love rather than music just for the sake of it. It touches people’s lives. The same way Whitney [Houston] is my Whitney, people say, ‘You’re my Estelle.’ I don’t take it lightly.”

“People often don’t know what to expect of me. They sometimes say, ‘I was expecting you to be cheeky and rude but you’re cool.’ And I’m like, ‘Why do you think I’m rude, just because I have an opinion?’”

“I am not a gangsta. It’s fake and it’s too much lying to keep up with, all that stuff about a big car and a Glock under the seat. Everyone I know who has come into contact with guns doesn’t want to be involved in that stuff.”

“I’ve learned to shut my mouth and choose my battles. I’ve never hit anybody – I’ve learned that you can destroy people with words and that’s more powerful.”

“When people ask me where I live now, I don’t know what to say. I live out of a bag in hotel rooms and on aeroplanes. I work hard. I sleep maybe four hours a night. The rest of the time, it’s all about my music.”

DO YOU WANT TO GO AND SEE ESTELLE? WE’VE GOT FIVE PAIRS OF TICKETS TO GIVEAWAY, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FILL IN THE FORM BELOW BEFORE THURSDAY MARCH 27 5.30pm. 

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Chocolate Nights, Supperclub, Zabeel Saray, West Crescent, The Palm, Dubai. Tel: (04) 4511100. Friday, 10pm to 3am. Dhs295. Taxi: Zabeel Saray.