*British rapper/singer Estelle has called London's new mayor Boris Johnson a racist, citing several comments he made in 2002 – including referring to black children as "piccaninnies" and describing blacks as having "watermelon smiles."
"Look at how ignorant that is," she tells Britain's Attitude magazine. "And he's going to be running our city? Look at that. Let's think about that. Better the devil you know - I go with [campaign rival] Ken Livingstone with his enlightened mind over someone that ignorant. Imagine what else he's going to do and say."
In a column published in the Daily Telegraph six years ago, the Conservative Johnson mocked Tony Blair's globetrotting, saying: "What a relief it must be for Blair to get out of England. It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies," he wrote. The column also mentioned that Johnson used the term "watermelon smiles" in reference to blacks.
In January, during a debate for the London mayoral race, Johnson said he was "sad" that people had been offended but insisted the words had been taken out of context. Moderator Michael Eboda, former editor of New Nation, said to Johnson: "These things are an extremely big obstacle to being able to work with what is 12% of London's population."
Johnson responded: "I feel sad that people have been offended by those words and I apologize for them."
In other Estelle news, the video for her single "No Substitute Love," from her new album "Shine," features cameos from Kelly Rowland, Amanda Dive and "Project Runway" winner Christian Siriano. Watch the clip:
"No Substitute Love" – Estelle