Review
Genre and Mood
Estelle’s American Boy, with Kanye West, is breezy R&B with disco and funk in its step. It is playful, confident and carefree: reviewers heard a “sweet” and “flirty” voice, and Bill Lamb called it “perfection for a slick, summery glide across the dance floor.”
Song Summary
It began as a joke: John Legend, Estelle’s mentor, suggested in the studio that she write a song about meeting an American boy, and she found it easy, she said, having many male friends in New York. The lyric is a foreign woman’s crush on an American suitor and on his cities, New York and Los Angeles. will.i.am produced it over the instrumental of his own song Impatient, from Songs About Girls (2007), John Legend adds background vocals, and Kanye West brought what Estelle called “his own cheeky self”.
Musical Breakdown
No source times this recording, so the guide follows its elements. The video here is the official edit; the yearbook’s recording is the 4:44 album version.
The Beat
will.i.am played drums, keys and synths, Caleb Speir the bass. The tempo is 118 beats per minute.
Estelle’s Verses
Her range runs from B3 to E5. Digital Spy heard “bags of self-confidence” and quoted her purring “Don’t like his baggy jeans”.
The Chorus
Pitchfork praised the hook and Digital Spy called it “a winning chorus”.
Kanye West’s Verse
The New York Times found West’s rap “perfunctory”, idling “cool”; The Skinny was dismissive of it. West himself had wondered how anyone could rap over a dance beat.
Concepts in Focus
A <a href=“https://korczis.github.io/sonic-playground/concept/featured-artist/” class=“concept-link font-medium text-primary-700 underline decoration-dotted underline-offset-4 hover:decoration-solid dark:text-primary-400” data-concept=“featured-artist” title=“A guest performer credited on another artist’s track, usually as “feat.”: a rapper’s verse, a singer’s hook or a second voice. Features bring together different styles and audiences and are central to hip-hop, R&B and dance music.“>featured artist is a guest on someone else’s single, credited after “feat.” Critics argued over the worth of West’s verse, and Digital Spy thought the tune should not have needed a guest to be a hit; in America it became Estelle’s breakout.
American Boy is also a lesson in sampling on a large scale: rather than a fragment, it takes the whole instrumental of Impatient. That is why Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir and Keith Harris share the writing credit, beside Estelle, West, will.i.am, Legend and Ethan Hendrickson. West had built Stronger the year before on Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.
The music video, directed by Syndrome, is a parade of cameos, among them John Legend, Danger Mouse, T.I. and LL Cool J. It was nominated for Best UK Video at the 2008 MTV VMAs.
Artistic Context
Estelle Swaray grew up in Hammersmith, London, on gospel, West African music, reggae and soul before hip hop. Legend produced her debut The 18th Day (2004) and signed her to his HomeSchool Records, in a joint venture with Atlantic, for Shine, released on 31 March 2008. American Boy was its second single, after Wait a Minute (Just a Touch).
Impact and Reception
American Boy spent four weeks at number one in the UK, reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the 2009 Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Year-end lists of 2008 ranked it high: seventh in Rolling Stone’s, second behind M.I.A.’s Paper Planes in The Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop poll. Put it on when the weather turns warm.
