Hi-Tek’s “Life To Me” Featuring Estelle
FILED UNDER: AUDIO, MUSIC, WE GOT NOW, LOOSIES, GENERAL.Words By MZ
Last month Hi-Tek released to limited fanfare his third album, Hi-Teknology 3: Underground, looking to shine some light down the same path he traveled before settling down as a producer with Aftermath. As with many compilations that come out, it’s a hit or miss affair, where misses occur more frequently than the hits. In dealing with rappers still trying to find their identity, you can only imagine what the results sound like. But if you’re willing to do a little bit of digging, there a few gems sprinkled in there. Being the nice guy he is, Hi-Tek gives some new names a chance to shine and doesn’t make us wait too long for the gems.
London born MC/singer Estelle opens up the CD with “Life to Me,” a track where she reflects on the birth of her first child. Over a haunting arrangement of strings, drums, and harpsichord accents Estelle sings and raps her soul for 4 ½ minutes. Hi-Tek provides Estelle with the perfect backdrop for her to recount the mental and physical turmoil she experienced during pregnancy. Hearing a female spit about something other than clothes, sexual exploits or jewelry is always refreshing and to my knowledge this topic isn’t discussed too often in the rap arena. Estelle is a more than a serviceable rapper with good sense of who she is as an artist. She has a good voice and her accent doesn’t distract the listener from what she’s saying.
Of all the unknown MC’s on the album, she appears the most ready to embark on a career of their own. After some digging online, I wasn’t terribly surprised to see that she is signed to John Legend’s Home School Records. Her debut stateside, Shine, is slated for a February 2008 release through Atlantic records. 2007 was a tough year for female rappers in terms of releasing material and in their personal lives. Hopefully she’ll be able to garner some attention through her artistic material.
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