Throwback: Estelle’s “1980”

By Angela Bruno

Once upon a time in 2004, Estelle (formerly Est’elle), heralded as the queen of U.K. hip-hop and the second  coming of Lauryn Hill, put out “1980,” from her first album The 18^th Day. A coming-of-age tale about humble origins, hard knocks and hitting it big – very much in the vein of the former Fugee’s “Every Ghetto, Every City” – “1980” finds the songstress/emcee rocking a Missy-"Supa Dupa Fly"-era 'do and rhyming a little grittier than would her new glossy self. But these days, she’s rolling with her label boss John Legend and Kanye -- who gives Estelle a taste of the good life on “American Boy,” her latest single. And, she’s even been touring with Wyclef. Hmmm ...