Next time you complain about a friend inviting themselves to one of your parties, think of how Kardinal Offishall ended up on Estelle’s new single, “Freak”.

“He heard the song, and was like, ‘Gimme that,’” recalled Darlings, who played the track from her house for Kardi. “He literally like took the song, looped up the beginning of the instrumental and did his verse and sent it back like, ‘There ya go, I’m on the track now.’”

Estelle didn’t mind – she cites Offishall as a good friend and one of the few that she’d grant that privilege to. Plus – she thinks he added a lot to the single.

“He killed it,” she stated. “He came on it and lifted the energy up completely.”

The singer did clarify one issue: Kardinal’s path of entry to the record is not the reason she made him wear skinny jeans for the song’s music video.

“(Laughing) He knows me. Whenever he’s around me there’s a lot of skinny jeans,” Estelle joked. “I’m sorry. I’m British. It’s what happens.”
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Of course, before Offishall declared himself a contributor to the record, Estelle linked up with French producer/DJ David Guetta. The man behind “I Gotta Feeling” and “Sexy Bitch” only reached out to one artist other than Chris Willis for a contribution to “One Love” – Estelle.

“I was like, ‘Hell yeah, will you do a track for me?’” Darlings said. She and Guetta recorded “One Love” – which the producer would later use as the title track for his August 2009 LP, an honor that Estelle admitted is “really cool.”

“After we did ‘One Love’, we were just both sitting there and I was like, ‘Play me some more stuff,’” she said. “He played ‘Freak’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God… trust me, give me that record!’”

Estelle decided that she’d bring it back to the 80’s on the hook – paying homage to the British pop group Soul II Soul by singing the chorus of the group’s smash single, “Back To Life”.

“He lost his mind,” Darlings said of Guetta’s reaction to the impromptu tribute. “I’m a child of the 80’s from London. Soul II Soul is what I grew up on.”

“Freak” is the first single from Estelle’s third studio LP – All Of Me – which she plans to release this fall. Other confirmed contributors include Swizz Beats, Gym Class Heroes’ Travie McCoy, and John Legend. Darlings revealed that the album will probably not include another collaboration with KanYe West. She did note that a recent duet with Mr. Hudson would more than likely be included on an extended version of the LP.