Estelle: It's hard to perform R&B music in the UK
NEW YORK (AP) — Estelle said she left the United Kingdom to pursue her career in America because performing R&B music back home was too tough.
“It’s so (expletive) hard for British artists to be taken seriously as R&B artists,” she said.
“It’s frustrating,” continued Estelle, who now lives in the United States. “I get a lot of (people saying), `Yo Estelle, I can’t sing R&B and be out here and make money. This is crazy.’ And I’m looking at them like, `I know. That’s why I’m not there doing it.“’
Estelle’s sound is a mix of rap, R&B, reggae and pop. She says British R&B singers have trouble performing R&B “because No. 1, you’re not American.”
But R&B music in Europe isn’t quite the same as in America. Europe’s R&B charts will feature pop acts like Jason Derulo and Flo Rida, whose songs don’t appear on the U.S. R&B chart.
“The kids in the (U.K.) hood still know what R&B music is. They still know what real (R&B) is,” she said.
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