Estelle

"American Boy" is a song by British singer and rapper Estelle for her second studio album "Shine". It features vocals from US rapper Kanye West. The song was written by Estelle, West, Ethan Hendrickson, will.i.am, John Legend, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, and Keith Harris. It was produced by will.i.am, and uses the instrumental from "Impatient" from his own third studio album "Songs About Girls". "American Boy" is a breezy R&B and disco-funk song that lyrically describes a romance with an American suitor. The song's conception came after Legend, Estelle's mentor, suggested she write a song about meeting a man from the United States. "American Boy" was released by Atlantic Records as the album's second single on 31 March 2008. The song received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its fresh sound and production. The song reached the top five in many European and Oceanic markets, and peaked at number-one in Belgium and Estelle's native United Kingdom. It also achieved success in the United States, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming Estelle's breakout song in the country. The song earned many nominations, and ultimately won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The music video, featuring a variety of celebrity guests, earned a Video Music Award nomination for Best UK Video. Estelle and West performed the song at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and 2008 Grammy Awards. "American Boy" was featured in the 2009 film "Obsessed". "It's a song as breezy as air, so carefree its gorgeously channeled vocals practically float off from the grounded four-on-the-floor disco beat and Quincy-Jones-producing-Michael-Jackson funk bass. It's a pure pop gem with a joyful bounce, verdant in textures (particularly the sunglassed analogue synth stabs), contagiously catchy, danceable and singable, and lyrically devoid of depth or scope, like an aimlessly pleasant walk in the park." — Timothy Gabriele of PopMatters commenting about "American Boy" "American Boy" was listed number 7 on the 100 Best Songs of 2008, published by the music magazine Rolling Stone. The song also ranked the 10th best song of 2008 and 238th on the Top 500 songs of the 2000s, published by Pitchfork. The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll ranked "American Boy" at number 2 to find the best music of 2008 after M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes". MTV listed the song fourth on its list of "Best Songs of 2008". PopMatters named "American Boy" the best single of 2008. BBC America listed "American Boy" at eighty-five on its list of "Top 100 British Songs of the 21st Century". In 2019, Time Out included it in its list of the 50 best songs of the 2000s. The music video for "American Boy" was directed by Syndrome. It features guest appearances by John Legend, Kardinal Offishall, Sa-Ra's Taz Arnold, Kidz in the Hall's Naledge and Double-O, Danger Mouse, Consequence, Hi-Tek, Ryan Leslie, T.I., Brandon Hines, LL Cool J, and 106 & Park's Terrence J, among others. The music video was nominated for Best UK Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to The Ting Tings' single "Shut Up and Let Me Go". The video also ranked at number 45 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 countdown, while its spin-off channel BET J listed it at number 10 on the year-end Last Call 2008! Top 50 Countdown. In 2018, NPR ranked this as the #112 greatest song by a female or nonbinary artist in the 21st century, saying: "In 2008, the world fell for British vocalist and rapper Estelle’s song of transatlantic romance. With its lush, catwalk sound, ‘American Boy’ embodies the confidence and desire of the newly connected Myspace generation. With production from The Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and rhymes from a younger Kanye, Estelle’s silky vocals and coy lyricism make this duet an anthem that’s still too big to fail."