How good is 'American Boy' by Estelle?

dentists be cheaper dentists be cheaper rtc lookin boy

oh ha didn't realize you didn't like this either haha

this song is nice. it's just some light breezy lil' summer song. i don't get why dudes are so bullhurt about it.

anyone have a problem with the production on this or is it just lyrical qualms?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZIyEFONms8

^^ throwing get silly rmx open to the general british public

3 missed calls and i'll change my mind

i like the production fine, rev otm when he said 'impatient' was better though

this song is nice. it's just some light breezy lil' summer song. i don't get why dudes are so bullhurt about it.

-- M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, August 14, 2008 4:30 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

this

yeah...i don't like it much, but my distaste for it isn't very strong, and sometimes i'll listen to it and enjoy it a little...but it's pretty obvious that there are a lot of cultural factors at work when brits argue forever about this song, not really a mystery there.

this is still a great song with a jazzy vibe and as a result i will forgive kanye's terrible lines

anyone have a problem with the production on this or is it just lyrical qualms?

-- blueski, Thursday, August 14, 2008 9:32 AM (Thursday, August 14, 2008 9:32 AM) Bookmark Link

naw, no problem with the production (although I liked it better as house than as pop), but I have as much or more problem with the vocal performances as with the lyrics

before he speak big hoos bespoke

anyways this song ain't about grumpin' around, just embrace the silliness and the beat. i like alla kanye's pseudo bloke bullshit. it's kinda funny/kinda lame in a charming way...

what the fuck kind of position is "this song is just fun don't get butthurt"? shouldn't we all like morningwood then?

don't see you all telling us to stfu and listen to metro station

estelle's voice is annoying and the lyrics make her sound really dumb, those are two pretty valid reasons to not like this song

the rest of you are inching close to or have achieved sub-matt armstrong status, congratulations

haha we got ourselves a burgeoning hardman here

i mean i agree on all points, fwiw

still lolling at the Green Acres comment!

haha someone please tell me I'm not the only one who hears it!

anyways this song ain't about grumpin' around, just embrace the silliness and the beat. i like alla kanye's pseudo bloke bullshit. it's kinda funny/kinda lame in a charming way...

-- M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:35 PM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

what the fuck kind of position is "this song is just fun don't get butthurt"? shouldn't we all like morningwood then?

-- J0rdan S., Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:57 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

don't see you all telling us to stfu and listen to metro station

-- J0rdan S., Thursday, August 14, 2008 5:57 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i don't even know what morningwood and metro station are there chief.

aight i'm out. keep fighting the good fight.

they are "fun" rock bands

estelle's voice is annoying and the lyrics make her sound really dumb, those are two pretty valid reasons to not like this song

there's a catchy summery house beat and estelle's voice is serviceable and utterly unremarkable, which is all i need out of a house song in the middle of fuckin august. that's more than enough reason for me to like this. lol @ lyric crit

New HHC has Excalibah interviewing Blak Twang and there's three or four references to "off the record discussions" between the two about how Estelle got her US connex. Anyway fancy rumourmongering?

omg did she fuck a dude to get ahead?!? how terrifically unfair to the rest of your nation

the lyrics dont make her sound dumb.

seriously whats dumb about them? guys in rap do that kind of objectification all the time. this is pretty gentle stuff really

they make her sound dumb (nb: I don't actually believe that, what I really think is that they make her sound awkward rather than dumb, but to use the argument at hand) because she can't carry them off

there's a catchy summery house beat and estelle's voice is serviceable and utterly unremarkable, which is all i need out of a house song in the middle of fuckin august. that's more than enough reason for me to like this. lol @ lyric crit

-- BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 14 August 2008 18:22 (1 hour ago) Link

I've said this before, but it was much better when it WAS just a catchy, summery house jam.

i love this song so much, and everytime this thread bumps i start singing it!

she can't carry them off

-- The Reverend, Thursday, August 14, 2008 7:47 PM (23 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

I don't agree, I think she delivers them with a coyness appropriate to an essentially insubstantial summer crush on a boy who'll be leaving when the season ends. It's an infatuation, why should we expect lyrics or a delivery with emotional depth when infatuation is all about surface obsession?

the fuck-it blaness of the vox sounds right on to me

(wait but are you guys talking about some remix or something? i don't know remixes)

there was a neat remix on palm out - the Estaw American Grill Fix

the fuck-it blaness of the vox sounds right on to me

-- Surmounter, Thursday, August 14, 2008 7:56 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

yes!!

lawl

Estelle and Adele are reportedly planning on collaborating.

The pair, each nominated for Grammy Awards this year, are keen to record a song together.

Both artists are currently working on their new albums and Estelle has said that working with the 'Chasing Pavements' singer would be "dope".

"I'm really excited to start working on my next album," she told The Sun. "I'm going to go totally left field and surprise a lot of people.

"I'm going to hit it out the ball park with this one. I’m thinking a mix of Coldplay and Marvin Gaye."

Gayeplay

I don't agree, I think she delivers them with a coyness appropriate to an essentially insubstantial summer crush on a boy who'll be leaving when the season ends. It's an infatuation, why should we expect lyrics or a delivery with emotional depth when infatuation is all about surface obsession?

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, August 14, 2008 12:55 PM Bookmark

You're missing what I was trying to say. I wasn't saying she needed to invest more into the lyrics, I was saying she doesn't sound believable singing them.

Also, her voice sounds shrill and harmful to my ears.

Missy would have been able to sell those lyrics, imo.

There's also the Kanye problem, too. Dude is way smackable on this track.

lol dude u crazy

I wasn't that way before this awful, awful, unlistenable, atrociously bad song.

*lazy crackpipe jibe*

I would politely disagree with that, but I'll be hoping you're right cuz dro is my ninja

― Preview of the Matrix 12, Friday, March 28, 2008 5:14 PM (8 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i still like this song

/lex

http://www.newstatesman.com/music/2008/12/estelle-british-black-paxman

^^ omg at url, preamble for another ridiculous patronizing article.

It's unfair to expect musicians to act as spokespeople for their generation, but with Estelle Swaray (she dropped the surname for showbiz reasons) it seems that black British youth has found an articulate new voice.

almost feel sorry for her as she's set up for a fall on this one. the new statesman (or guardian) never has to find a single 'articulate new voice' for white upper-middle class youth -- that would be ridiculous.

So, is there anyone on the British political stage who has inspired her? "I think Tony Blair had promise at the start." But he messed up? "He followed Bush."

estelle has nothing more or less to say about anything than any other singer, and again the whole article is a vehicle for more paternalistic grime-is-the-voice-of-the-streets bollocks.

The words and sounds that crackle from pirate radio transmitters and across broadband connections, or reverberate around dingy clubs like Mass in Brixton, south London - one of the venues where Estelle first performed - have a creativity that gives the lie to the casual dismissal of young people, of whatever race, as brainless "hoodies".

why the fuck he's going on about grime is unclear. but what is all this shit?

Racism or not, there is an insidious prejudice in British society that treats urban youth culture as the amusing result of a multicultural experiment, as opposed to a thriving reality for millions of people.

what is he talking about exactly? where is this unfair treatment of 'urban youth culture', and does he really mean millions? are they 'thriving'?

Racism or not, there is an insidious prejudice in British society that treats urban youth culture as the amusing result of a multicultural experiment, as opposed to a thriving reality for millions of people.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2008/jul/29/bouncytechnomeetsterribler

in the comments for that:

Tombot
04 Aug 08, 1:55pm

Well it's nice to know you can all sit safe in your overpriced London apartments in the knowledge that "everyone" in the North West listens to this. Now piss off and listen to some cheeky cheeky mockney songster, you fackin' slaaaag!

Maybe it's etc.

So is the music in this song sampled from Kool & The Gang (or something) or is it all original instrumentation?

when i went to london, all i could sing in my head was this song.

i would walk down the street all happy like "WHO'S KILLING THEM IN THE UUUUUUU KAY"