| Photo Credits: Shootrr On Friday July 6th, Grammy Award Winning singer Estelle curated an evening of Afro-Beats, Reggae, Dancehall and Soca for the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. In its 25th anniversary, the songstress thought it would be the perfect time to merge the standard fans of R&B, Hip Hop, & Soul with fans of Caribbean and African music at the Essence Music Festival. The evening consisted of an hour set during the mainstage at Mercedes Benz Superdome, followed by a 4 hour event at Republic Nola for Essence Music Festival’s After Dark Series. The mainstage set included performances by Estelle, Sister Nancy, Machel Montano, Wayne Wonder, Kranium, Wale, Rotimi and Hood Celebrityy with music by Max Glazer and Shacia Marley, while the After Dark Series included all previously mentioned along with Spice, Luke James, Melanie Fiona, Rafiya and female twin duo signed to Estelle’s label, Established 1980, Nick and Navi. There was no shortage of good vibes, as the sold out event reached capacity with patrons who traveled as far as Europe and Toronto to solely attend. |
| “I was grateful for the opportunity to put together such a great roster of artists for The Essence Music Festival,” said Estelle. “We gotta do more than just scream the word Culture. Caribbean and African music makes people feel good and I wanted to just showcase that notion in such a fun city like New Orleans, at such a prestigious music festival,” she concluded. Estelle released “Lovers Rock” last September on VP Records/Established 1980 Records. Inspired by her parents love story, the album “Lovers Rock” features songs “Love Like Ours” featuring Tarrus Riley, “Better”, “Lights Out”, “Meet Up”featuring Maleek Berry, “So Easy” featuring Luke James and more. The latest single and video from the album is “Lights Out”. “Lights Out is my favorite song off the Lovers Rock album as I feel it truly embodies what Lovers Rock is to me,” said Estelle about the track. “The song came effortless to me and I love how it expresses the beauty in vulnerability and desire. Estelle will be in the New York area, August 10th, performing at VP Records 40thAnniversary Concert for City Parks Summer Stage in Central Park, with Elephant Man, Raging Fyah and Junior Reid. |