MIC/LINE (formerly named Sound Check) is HYPEBEAST Radio‘s music-centric show that looks to deliver in-depth conversations with your favorite artists, digging into their origin stories and asking the questions you want answered. On our first episode of season two, we sat down with Estelle.

The London-born R&B singer made her return with her new album Lovers Rock last month, dropping her first project in three years. The LP was named after the reggae subgenre pioneered in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s but the project is a concept album that chronicles the long arc of her parents’ love story. Since starting her career in 2004 and breaking out in the States in 2008 with her hit single “American Boy” featuring Kanye West, Estelle has been one of the most respected artists in music. She credits her longevity because of her love for making music and her willingness to hone her craft.

“If I had any advice for younger artists, I would say: love what you’re doing, this is never going to be about the money,” she says.

For this episode, Estelle discusses the inspiration behind her new album Lovers Rock, schools us in the differences within the subgenres of Caribbean and African music, pop culture, the story behind her biggest songs, voicing the character “Garnet” from Cartoon Network’s Steven Universeand so much more.

You can check out her latest album Lovers Rock right now on all streaming platform.

Keep up with everything HYPEBEAST Radio and subscribe to MIC/LINE on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast or wherever else you enjoy your podcasts. Feel free to reach out to our host, Manny, on Twitter at @ECM_LP and follow HYPEBEAST Music for more original content and music news.